Vile Beauty
by Medea Ariadne DeMarchi
Summary: Isabella Swan isn't human, or humane for that matter. When she moves to Forks and finds others different from the rest of her kind, Will she find her way? Or will she fall deeper into the darkness? ...
1. Prologue & Games

**AN: Hey guys this is a new story I've been working on for a while, I hope you guys like it.**

**~This is a Declaimer for the whole story,** **I am not Stephenie Meyer- no copyright infringement** **intended.**

**Summary:**_** Isabella Swan isn't human, or humane for that matter. When she moves to Forks and finds others different from the rest of her kind, Will she find her way? Or will she fall deeper into the darkness?**_

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Prologue**

0~O~0

I exited my house in a hurry; I needed to get to the hospital as quickly as possible. My parents frowned upon my volunteering at the hospital- no lady of high-middle class should spend time there with the sick and dying. It was socially frowned upon, but I did not care.

I had to make sure my friend was alive and well; I could not bring myself to leave him on his death bed. I still hoped he would make it; he had already lost his mother and father to the influenza. They were like extended family to me… and of that extended family, I only had him left.

We had grown up together for eight years, but then I was sent to a private boarding school. I didn't see him again until several months after my sixteenth birthday, and a month before his seventeenth.

He had changed so much since the last time we had seen each other. He was no longer that small, fun-loving boy I had known. He was now a responsible, more polite, educated, and handsome young man.

But I was also different.

I had lost all the awkwardness of my childhood. I was more free-spirited than I had been when I was younger, but I knew how to keep it under control so that wasn't a problem.

My friends at school said that I was now more beautiful than any of them, but that was impossible because they were extremely beautiful. When we would go out into the city, men would look at them with admiration in their eyes. They said it was because I was walking with them, but I didn't believe it. There was no way I was more good-looking than any of them, they were the most attractive and rich young ladies in the whole campus. I really wasn't. I was in between the upper and lower class of the school.

I shook my head to rid myself of these thoughts and then looked up to find that the hospital building was beginning to get bigger as I neared it. With sudden anxiety I opened the door and found Julie leaning casually against the front desk.

"Hello Mrs. James." I said pleasantly. She looked up and glared at me. "Touché," I teased.

"I've told you my dear, to never address me as Mrs. James."

"I'm sorry Julie, but one must keep up with the rules of society," I said with as much arrogance as I could muster. Julie simply chuckled at my comment.

"Hurry up then my dearest friend and get dressed!"

"All right," I said, walking towards the changing rooms. I quickly slipped off my dress and put on my nurse's uniform. I loved how the fabric felt on my skin because it soothed my worries.

As I was folding my dress I heard the main door open, and as I walked out of the stall I saw that Mary was waiting patiently for me to finish. She smiled slightly as she took my dress out of my hand and placed it on her shelf, next to Julie's dress.

Mary, Julie and I had grown extremely close after we had spent so many hours a day at the hospital.

"Let's go- there are several patients waiting for us outside," Mary said in her soft voice. I nodded silently, hoping that I would find him alive.

I made my rounds and helped the patients as much as I could. I had only watched five of the patients die next to me and I was hoping I wouldn't see another.

There had been many people that had needed assistance so I wasn't able to take my break as early as I had wished for, but finally at around thirty after six I was able to take it. I walked over to the front desk where Julie was filling out some papers.

"Julie I'm going to take my break now, so if you need me, you know where to find me." She nodded slightly and her eyes soften when she looked in my direction.

I turned around and hurried up the stairs. I passed dozens of people that were restless with pain, some already on the verge of dying. I closed my eyes and walked faster. I didn't want to see them in pain.

I finally arrived at my destination, and when I opened the door I found that the room had a new occupant. I felt uneasiness boil within me. I told myself that maybe they had taken him to a new room, but even to me that sounded impossible. They never moved patients from the room unless… they died.

I ran out of the room and made my way to the hospital morgue, all the time praying that I was wrong with my assumption that he was gone… _forever_.

The hall that led to the morgue was full of bodies; I couldn't see their faces because they had white sheets to cover them.

I could see that at the end of the hall, the morgue doors were wide open and I walked straight in.

A man with black hair, brown eyes and a tan, who appeared to be in his late forties, was writing something on his clipboard, he looked up when he heard me enter.

"Are you looking for something, Miss?" he asked politely.

"Yes I am. I was wondering if I could take a look at the list of people who were brought here last night and early this morning."

"Now why would you want to do that?"

"Because Sir, I want to know if a friend of my family has died." I asked looking him straight in the eyes.

"All right, give me a moment please." He went to a corner of the room and picked up a book from the table. "Everyone who has been brought to the morgue has their name written here and their time of death."

"Thank you, Sir." I took the book from his hands, and turned the page backwards. I began to look at the list of names of those who had passed away the night before. At the very end the name I was hoping not to see appeared, written in very elegant handwriting. I fought back the urge to fall down crying and instead handed the book to the man who waited patiently for me to finish. "Thank you."

"You're welcome," he answered sadly when he saw my face.

"Goodbye." I turned and exited the morgue.

There was a pain in my chest- it felt like someone was crushing me and at the same time I felt like I would explode. It felt like something was missing, but I didn't know what. I somehow knew my heart was breaking, because with each breath I felt the fire and ice go into my lungs; I felt a pain in my chest that I knew could never be fixed.

I wanted to cry but I couldn't, so I made my way back to Mary and Julie in hopes that they would help me find something to take my mind off the pain.

"Darling!" Julie cried in shock when she saw my face. "What happened to you?" I felt her arms wrap around my waist.

"He's _gone_," I muttered into her shoulder as a sob escaped my lips and tears began to fall down my cheeks.

"I'm so sorry dear," Julie whispered to me.

"I just want to go home."

"I don't think you should go alone," she said slowly.

"I'll be fine Julie; it's only two blocks away," I said while wiping the tears from my eyes.

"All right, but please be careful."

"I will. Tell Mary I said goodnight, please."

"I will. Goodnight darling."

"Goodnight Julie," I said as I walked away from her and into the changing rooms. I changed back into my dress as quickly as I could, and placed my nurse's outfit on the shelf.

When I walked out of the hospital I felt a little cold when a small breeze began to blow, but I ignored it and instead I observed that the sun was already setting in the horizon. I sighed and walked faster to my house; I didn't want to have my parents worry about me.

I arrived in a matter of minutes, but to me it felt like hours. I just wanted to lie in bed and cry.

When I opened the door the first thing I noticed was that the lights were off, which was strange; my mother usually read some books at this time and my father would work on the papers for the next day.

"No!" I gasped as I turned on the lights. My mother's ashen body was on the floor in the parlor, her eyes closed.

I ran forward and hoped to find a pulse, but her cold skin told me otherwise. Still I hoped, and no sooner had I touched her before that hope was shattered.

Something didn't seem right; something was happening that I didn't know about.

"Well hello there." A smooth malicious voice spoke from behind me. That voice somehow sent shivers up my spine.

I turned slowly to see a man with skin as pale as moonlight, eyes brighter than a rose in bloom, angelic features, and blood-red lips. He was dressed in casual clothing, but nothing about this man truly scared me. Not even his eyes. The thing that did was what he held in his hands. _My father._

He was limp in the man's hands; his features twisted in pain, his skin looked almost like that of my mother, except that he was alive.

"Let him go!" I screamed at the man. He dropped my father's body on the floor and stalked towards me. I took a step back and then stopped myself from going any farther.

"Anything for _you_," he breathed, as he bent down and bit my neck. The world started to grow dark and blurry, red and black spots entered my vision and a pain so great, greater than fire burning my skin, entered my body.

In a matter of seconds I was drowning in the darkest pain imaginable.

0~O~0

**Chapter 1: Games**

0~O~0

The smell in the air was unmistakable. It was the smell of fear.

I laughed cruelly. Fear was the reason I loved to play these games with my prey.

The smell of fear in the air only helped enhance the pleasure of the hunt and its excitement sky rocketed, making the moment of feeding much more pleasing.

They were foolish to run, but I would never tell them that. I loved to watch all hope vanish from their eyes as I walked forward. It was beautiful. And it gave me pleasure.

Which was all that mattered to me.

"Please don't," the teenage girl that I was following pleaded, tears on the verge of spilling on her now pale cheeks.

"I can't do that."

"Please!" the girl cried. I smiled.

"I'm doing you a favour; you were going to die tomorrow anyway, so I'm not going to let your blood go to waste." Her eyes widened.

"H-how do you k-know that?"

"I saw it. You were going to get run over by a car, and die… Besides, no one will notice that you're gone."

"Luis will!" she cried.

"No he won't- he'll be in bed with some other girl."

"You lie!"

"I speak nothing but the truth, he was using you. Don't try to deny it- I know exactly how you feel: you feel that your heart has been ripped out from your chest and crushed. I will end the pain for you much more quickly than that car would." I smiled at her, and she began to cry.

"Please, don't do it." She was begging on her knees. I grabbed her behind the neck and pulled her closer to me.

"No." With that I bit into her soft neck and drank the sweet blood that flowed from it. She screamed, and all too soon I had drained the delicious liquid from her.

I let go and her body fell to the ground with a light thud.

I rolled her over with my foot, removed the blue silk ribbon from her hair and tied it around my neck.

I took everything of value that she had with her, and then proceeded to bury her deep inside the woods. By the time I was finished, you couldn't even tell that the soil had been disturbed.

Happy with my handiwork I decided to pay a visit to the neighbouring town. Maybe there I could have some _real_ fun.

The thought didn't fail to excite me; maybe there I could find a real _challenge_.

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**Published: May 14, 2009**

**Edited: June 4, 2009**

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**AN: Okay so I know that wasn't the longest or best chapter ever, but I'm pretty happy with it. **

**Anyway all I'm asking for is 4 reviews before I start writing the second chapter, don't forget to vote on the poll on my profile, the story with the most votes will become my #1 priority. :)**

**Hope you enjoyed it! :D**

**P.S. Can anyone guess who the vampire is?**


	2. The Outcast of the Outcasts

**AN: Hey guys! I decided to update today, I'm not sure if this chapter is as good as the first. I wrote it in a hurry. Hope you like it! :)**

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0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 2: The Outcast of the Outcasts'**

0~O~0

I was in my home packing away my belongings when a brilliant idea occurred to me. If I enrolled in the town's high school, I could select my newest prey from a much wider selection of humans.

The more I thought about the pros of the idea the more I liked them. If I was going to do this I was going to need some help. With a slight groan I picked up my cell phone and dialed the familiar number. I only had to wait a second before it was answered.

"Hello?" a pleasant voice called from the phone.

"Hello Jen."

"Hello Isabella."

"Thanks for remembering." I smirked.

"How could I _possibly_ forget _you_?"

"Oh, I don't know, perhaps to try and forget your past?"

"My past was a good one, so I have nothing I want to forget."

"That's very good to hear." There was silence on the other end; I smiled. "Anyway I was just going to tell you that I have decided to relocate."

"So soon?"

"I got what I wanted."

"Are congratulations in order?"

"Not yet."

"Hmmm."

"I need you to do something for me."

"Okay."

"I need you to come live with me for a while."

"Why?"

"Quite frankly it's because if my plan is to succeed, I need you to play the part of an older sister."

"Sounds intriguing."

"It should."

"What do you have in mind?"

"Oh, I'm just going to pretend to be an average high school teen," I scoffed.

"You're kidding me right?"

"No."

"This is bound to be interesting."

"You _really_ think so?" I arched my eyebrow.

"Of course; I know how much you detest it."

"I guess irritation will make the moment of fulfillment much more _satisfying._"

"True."

"Perfect."

"Where are you planning to move?"

"Forks, Washington."

"The rainiest place in the continental US?"

"It will help in the end."

"I trust your judgment."

"As you should."

"Have you moved in yet?"

"No, I just finished packing the last of my things. I should be there in about an hour and a half."

"Okay, I'll try to be there as soon as I can."

"Great."

"Bye Isabella."

"Goodbye Jennifer." I hung up the phone and placed the last box into the trunk of my bronze Aston Martin. I loved that car, and I would kill for it.

I locked the house door and walked as quickly as I could to my car without looking suspicious; the damn neighbor's son was looking at me. I wanted to rip his head off, but I controlled myself. He didn't smell nice enough to really tempt me.

I turned on my car and the engine purred to live. Very little things, like the sound of my car's engine, brought me _some_ joy.

0~o~0

**2 hours later**

0~o~0

I placed the last of the boxes in the closet under the stairs and walked outside, into the back yard.

I didn't want to unpack until the rest of the furniture arrived, and that would be in about two to three days.

The house I had bought about a week ago was a two-storey affair with cherry wood floors, four bedrooms, four and a half bathrooms, a laundry room, a spacious living room, dining room and kitchen– even if the last two wouldn't be used. Both front and back yards were spacious and the back yard even had a pool– I couldn't figure out why. The pool had a canopy over it, but I doubted that would help much.

The house was a few minutes away from town– for which I was eternally grateful. I didn't need nosy neighbors because in the end, I wanted to kill them too.

When complete boredom took over, I climbed the nearest tree. Once I was at the top I began to jump and swing from tree to tree. I knew I was acting like a monkey, but when you're bored, you're bored.

After a few minutes I noticed that the trees were growing further and further apart.

I swung one more time and sat still, slowly taking in the big white three-storey house in front of me. The house was situated in a meadow and a stream passed right by it- well, by the tree I was on actually. I had no idea why but the whole side facing me was made out of pure glass; it gave me a peek at what was inside so I wasn't complaining.

Each room had a different theme than the one before, but they didn't clash like I had expected them to; instead they balanced each other in perfect harmony. The furniture was simple and yet tasteful. I liked it.

My attention found a new focus as a man slammed the door of a room shut behind him, his features twisted in frustration, but I could tell that they were– what could be considered- handsome.

His skin was whiter than snow, and his hair was a brilliant reddish bronze, and when he opened his eyes, I saw with a start that they were a light topaz. I immediately knew that man was a vampire.

I watched him plop gracefully on a black leather couch in the room. He seemed really angry at something but I didn't care.

I had a feeling that he was one of the vampires that were rumored to have relinquished drinking the blood of the humans; they were the outcasts of our kind.

I laughed in my mind, and I felt that slow devious smirk creep onto my lips. I was going to play with this man a bit, just like I did with the humans- but it would be the humans that would inevitably satisfy my thirst.

I suddenly heard footsteps and soft voices from one of the floors below. I descended the tree slowly until I had a perfect view of the figures in what appeared to be the living room.

In total there were six of them: three blondes, three dark brunettes; three male, three female, each one carrying a look of concern on their faces.

The smallest and very pixie-like looking one spoke first. "Carlisle, what are we going to do with him?"

"Perhaps we can force him to date someone." A dark haired muscular vampire put in. The pretty blonde next to him glared.

"Shut up Emmett! Alice wasn't talking to you," the woman spat, smacking the vampire upside the head. He rubbed it slightly.

"Sorry Rosalie." He mumbled.

"Rose, Emmett, please behave," a woman with caramel hair said. She was sitting next to a blonde man.

"Sorry Esme," they uttered, and for a second silence took over the party.

"Well, Carlisle?" the one named Alice put in.

"Alice, you know very well that we cannot intrude in Edward's life. He is old enough to do as he pleases."

"But-" the pixie began.

"Alice, he does have a point," a familiar smooth voice with a slight southern accent spoke. My eyed widened.

"I know Jasper, but I hate to see our brother alone."

"We all do, Alice," the caramel-haired snow white said, sighing sadly.

I glanced up at the one I assumed was Edward. He still lay on the couch, his face plastered with anger, pain, and loneliness. I smirked.

He was the outcast of the outcasts. How pathetic.

I silently lowered myself to the ground and picked up small rocks from the banks of the stream that I knew wouldn't break anything. I climbed up the tree again and stood on the branch measuring my options.

I was going to drive them– him especially- insane, without any of them knowing it.

I threw the rocks at the two separate windows, turned around and began jumping away from branch to branch; I could hear them outside in the yard muttering about what had happened, and I knew their attention had been successfully caught.

I smirked to myself and made it safely back to my house.

Forks, Washington did indeed hold a few interesting subjects, subjects that I was_ definitely_ going to exploit.

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**Published: May 18, 2009**

**Edited: June 4, 2009**

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**AN: So** **what do you guys think?**

**I'm pretty sure there are several grammer mistakes in there but I was in a hurry to update because you guys were so good... and I had inspiration. XD**

**I want 4 reviews this time too.**

**P.S. Remember to vote on the poll on my profile! The Story with the most votes will become my #1 priority! :)**


	3. Painfully Alone

**AN: Hey guys, here's an update. It's only about 3 1/2 pages long... and it's my first chapter _ever _from Edward's POV.**

**Anyway, I just wanted to explain a bit about Bella's character, I gave a clue as to why she acted the way she did in Chapter 1: Games, so if you guys see it, feel free to PM me about it. :) **

**I'd like to thank everyone who Reviewed, Added the Story to their Favorites and added it to their Story Alert List. Thanks guys, now enjoy the chapter... if you can. XD**

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0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 3: Painfully Alone**

**_Edward's Point of View_**

0~O~0

The sun was hidden beneath a thick layer of clouds, but even so, I could still see the sun's rays as they began to move towards the western horizon.

Reluctantly, I stood from my place on the lush green grass.

I had found this meadow years ago when we had lived close to Forks. It was extremely spacious, lush with green grass year round, and in the spring, all sorts of wild flowers would bloom, filling the meadow with a pleasing flowery scent.

I came here every once in a while, but lately I found myself coming here more often than usual. I had my family's unneeded worries about my nonexistent love life to thank for that.

It irritated me that they wouldn't respect me enough to let me be.

Every time they brought up the subject, I felt my suppressed sadness and loneliness quickly rise to the surface and break every wall I had built to restrain them- and they wouldn't give me peace of mind until I had locked them away again behind those walls.

But they didn't understand the unwilling pain they inflicted upon me with their constant worries. They didn't even know that the pain existed, and I planned to keep it that way- no matter how much I hurt. So I left the house every time they began.

Since I was in no hurry to get back home, I walked very slowly back, memorizing every leaf, rock and tree of the forest for the fifteenth time that month.

I observed with vague interest every change that occurred spanning from the last time I had come, to the ones occurring in my presence.

My mind slowly wandered to that dangerous subject that I was determined would forever be banished from my mind.

Still I began to think about what it would be like to have a companion of my own, to love someone for the rest of my existence, to experience for myself what love felt like.

I stopped that train of thought right there. I was _never_ going to find my soul mate, I was _never_ going to fall in love, and I had to accept that. No matter how painful it was.

I sighed heavily when my family's worried thoughts assaulted my mind. I growled.

I was sick and tired of this. Their worries only made me feel worse than I already did.

I kept on walking, and in about forty minutes made it back to our house which was situated on a decent-sized, secluded meadow.

I entered the house quickly, ignoring the thoughts and stares directed at me as I passed. When I got to my room, I slammed the door shut and plopped down on my black leather couch.

"Carlisle, what are we going to do with him?" Alice asked softy from below.

I picked up the stereo remote from the floor and turned on some music, in hopes of blocking out the conversation going on below. It worked… to an extent.

I sang, translated and imagined pictures in my mind, but even then, I was only able to block half the conversation and I somehow, managed to hear the end.

"Alice, he does have a point." I silently thanked Jasper.

"I know Jasper, but I hate to see our brother alone." _Then leave me alone_, I thought. _Darn Meddling Pixie._

"We all do, Alice." I felt a bit bad about the way Esme felt, but nothing was going to change the fact that I was alone. _Painfully alone_.

I sat up quickly when a rock hit my window. I saw a flash of pale skin and brown hair disappear into the tree branches.

I heard my family walk outside to the front yard and I immediately followed suit.

"What was that?"

"I don't know, Emmett," Carlisle responded, his voice laced with an undertone of worry.

"Edward. Did you _hear_ anything?" Jasper asked slowly, his mind working in overdrive. As his words began to sink in I felt worry appear in the pit of my stomach.

"No. I only saw a flash of brown hair and pale skin."

"Where?"

"In the tree branches. Not far from my room."

"It was probably a vampire," Rosalie mused to herself.

"We can take him," Emmett stated, flexing his arms.

"Or her," Rosalie said rolling her eyes.

"The point is that we don't know," I stated.

"How come you didn't _hear_ anything Edward?" Alice asked.

"I could ask you that same thing. How come you didn't _see_ anything, Alice?"

Alice pouted. "I don't know _why_," she stated, putting her hands on her hips, tapping her foot slightly.

"That _thing_ could have been dangerous."

"Take a chill pill Edward."

I glared at Alice. She just rolled her eyes at me. _Why is this scent so familiar? _I turned around and noticed that Jasper had climbed the tree that I had seen the brown hair from.

"Did you find anything?" I asked as I walked over to him.

"Nothing," he sighed, "but that scent is really familiar. I know it belongs to a female vampire."

"Do I want to know how you knew that?" Emmett asked, laughing.

"It's not like _that_, Emmett," Jasper growled.

"I wonder how Alice is going to feel about that," he challenged.

"Grow up Emmett," I replied rolling my eyes, but he kept smirking until Rose slapped him behind the head. It was then mine and Jasper's turn to smirk. He simply pouted.

Alice rolled her eyes. "There are three more days before school starts and I still have to go buy some new shoes." Rosalie's eyes began to sparkle with excitement.

"I'll go with you!" she exclaimed. I sighed.

"Good. I was thinking about…" Their voices faded as I walked back to my room, growling and trying my best to block them out.

I really didn't want to go back to school…

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**Published: May 20, 2009**

**Edited: June 4, 2009**

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**AN: So what did you guys think? And yes, I know Edward sound's bitter, sorry about that...**

**Anyway I need 5 reviews _before_ I start typing the next chapter. :)**

**Remember to vote on the Poll on my profile! The Story with the most votes will become my _#1 priority_! _Voting Ends June 30th!_**


	4. It Begins

**AN: Hey guys! I'm so sorry that I took forever to update, but I was busy with school work. I have no idea if I'll be able to update this week because I have to take my finals, so you guys might have to wait another week.**

**P.S. I'd like to thank my Beta Reader (**David**) for _single handedly_ polishing this chapter and the ones before it. You rock man. :)**

**And of course I want to thank the people that Review, added the story to their Favorites, and Story Alert list. You guys make my day! :D**

* * *

0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 4: It Begins**

0~O~0

"Isabella!" Jen yelled from below. "You'd better start getting ready for school!"

"Shut up! I don't want to remember!" I growled.

"It was _your_ idea."

"I know! But I still don't want to go!" I heard her giggle and throw something; from the sound of it, it had been a pair of shoes hitting a wall.

I groaned, got up and walked into the bathroom. I pulled off my clothes quickly, turned on the water and stepped inside.

The hot water beat against my skin in a soothing way, causing me to relax and for my skin to feel warm.

I didn't want to get out of the shower so I took a little longer than usual, washing my body and hair, and still I did this in less than ten minutes.

I got out, dried myself, put on some dark navy blue jeans, a lacy white undershirt, a dark purple "V" neck long sleeve shirt, a black mid-thigh coat, and black knee-high heel boots.

I dried my hair, straightened it and pulled the ends out. I stood still in front of the mirror, closing my eyes and imagined myself with the appearance of a human.

I opened my eyes and what I had imagined was what I saw.

My vampire beauty was mostly untarnished, but my eyes were a golden-brownish hazel. My skin was a soft smooth pale ivory that would mold around what held it, but was unbreakable. My cheeks and lips where now rosy, and a slow steady heartbeat filled the room with a seemingly natural rhythm that would fool even the most experienced vampire. I would still smell mouthwatering to any human, but to a vampire I would smell like a human- and no matter how mouthwatering I smelled to them, they would never be able to bring it upon themselves to attack me for my "blood." Not that there was any.

I even retained my highly-developed senses of smell, taste, sound, sight, and touch, but I would still have to _act_ like a normal human girl.

Content with myself I took my backpack from my room and walked down the stairs. I found Jennifer on the couch watching TV, her glossy black hair was put up into a messy ponytail. She turned to look at me raising one of her delicate eyebrows.

"What? No lip gloss?"

"Ugh." I took out my lip gloss and put some on quickly.

"So vain and vile aren't we?" Jen asked sarcastically.

"You know it," I said, winking before I turned around and made my way to the door. "See you later Jen!" I called out as I made it to my car.

The drive to school was fast and a bit dreadful. I hoped spending so much time with the humans wasn't going annoy me too much- I had things to do.

I looked at the time on the dashboard. I had made it to school in five minutes and thirty seconds. _Way_ too fast.

I sighed and noticed that the parking lot was still not full. I guess I was early. _Jeez- can this get any more annoying? _I drove to the area farthest from the majority of the students' cars, and as I passed I noticed several people stare and gawk. I couldn't help the smirk that formed on my lips. They were never going to see me through the dark, tinted windows. They gave me privacy wherever I drove.

I parked my car, turned it off, and took the keys from the ignition before I took my backpack from the passenger seat.

As I was stepping out of my car, a small breeze blew my hair around my face. I bet I looked like something out of a cheesy movie at the moment. This almost made me laugh, but I had to hold back my laughter and annoyance as gasps and a few whistles filled the parking lot. _Could these people be any more immature?_

I made my way to the front office, ignoring the stares of awe and jealousy directed at me. I was glad to finally be in the office and I couldn't help but look around a bit.

The walls were a papyrus-looking color and texture. The air smelled slightly damp but it was more warm than damp. I wasn't so sure if I liked that.

I saw the receptionist look up and watched with a silent satisfaction as her eyes widened. "Hello dear, how can I help you?" she finally said after opening and closing her mouth a few times.

"I'm Isabel Marie Swan. I received a phone call yesterday from the school telling me to come and pick up my schedule here rather than at the multipurpose room like the rest of the students."

"Welcome Ms. Swan, I'm Mrs. Copel. Please come here so that I can give you your schedule and explain a few things to you about the school." After she gave me my schedule, a copy of the bell schedule and a campus map, she sent me off to my first class, which to my great dislike was gym.

I hated gym with a passion. It was pointless and a bunch of bat guano if you asked me, but I wasn't going to complain too much because I was good at it. Still, that wasn't enough to make me happy.

I was the one of the first people to get to class. That meant I'd have to endure the boys who would constantly roam their eyes over my body and try to flirt with me. I only smiled at the ones that were more attractive than the rest, which were very few.

I heard several girls gossiping about me and some other people- like whose relationship had made it through the summer and whose hadn't. I couldn't help but roll my eyes at their weak-wit.

The teacher finally decided to join the class ten minutes after the bell rang.

"Hello class, I'm Coach Ensley. Please sit only on the first four rows of bleachers while I take attendance, after that you are free to roam about the gym as you please." I looked at the far wall and imagined what I would be doing if I had been at the house instead of sitting in a room full of dim-witted teenagers. "Isabel Swan!" the coach called out.

"Here," I responded, waving my hand a bit. The coach nodded and returned to calling out names. I sat in my seat the whole period working on my plans.

"Okay class, the bell should be ringing soon. So I have one final announcement, I expect all of you to dress out this Friday. You are dismissed." He motioned for us to leave as the bell rang.

Math III and English III all passed uneventfully.

I noticed that the pixie vampire and I had history together which would have been a problem if I intended to prank someone there. _So much for using my vampire abilities in this class_, I sighed. I felt a few people stare at me from time to time… It was more like gawking than anything else. But the pixie would only glance at me. It wasn't as bothersome at when the humans did it.

I let out a sigh when the lunch bell finally rang. I was closing my backpack when a timid brunette came up to me.

"H-Hi."

"Hi."

"I'm Angela Weber." The girl shyly offered me her hand.

"Isabel Swan." I said shaking her hand gently.

"It's a pleasure to meet you."

"The pleasure is mine." I smiled brightly at her.

"So… I was wondering if you'd like to sit with my friends and me for the day."

"I'd like that." I said smiling and following her out the door towards the cafeteria.

Angela waited patiently for me to get my food before she began to head to one of the tables across the room, in a corner conveniently located by a door.

I noticed that a black–haired, black-eyed Asian boy was sitting next to a Hispanic girl with light brown hair and darker brown eyes.

They looked up at the sound of our footsteps before looking at each other, then looking at Angela and myself, and finally back at themselves.

"Hi!" Angela began confidently.

"Hi," they said in unison.

"So guys- this is Isabel. Isabel, these are Martha and Ben."

"Nice to meet you," I responded, inclining my head slightly. "You can call me Marie if you'd like, it's a lot shorter and easier to say than Isabel." I made sure to plaster a warm sweet smile on my face. To me it felt saccharine, but they seemed to buy it.

"So Marie, where are you from?" Martha began after Angela and I had taken our seats.

"Well I was born in Illinois, but we moved to Washington about four years ago."

"What city in Illinois?"

"Chicago."

"Seriously? Then why did you move to Washington?"

"Because my parents were murdered and my sister thought it best to raise me in a safe place."

There was a slight pause. "I'm sorry," Angela said after a few seconds.

"It's all right, it happens out there," I murmured quietly, just loud enough for them to hear. I was playing my role perfectly.

Now I wasn't lying, but the pain wasn't as incapacitating as it used to be.

"It must be really hard to have to start all over," Ben put in softly.

"When you've been through what I've been through and lived the live I have lived, getting a chance to start anew seems like a blessing," I put in tranquilly, but letting a hint of bitterness enter my voice.

They were quiet for a while and I moved my food around in my plate so that it looked like I was eating. I heard footsteps approach our table and looked up to find a blonde boy with blue eyes standing next to me.

"You're Isabel right?"

"And you would be?" I challenged in a bored tone.

"Mike Newton." Martha put an annoyed look on her face. Newton-boy only rolled his eyes.

"So Isabel, would you like me to walk you to your next class?" he asked me with the flirtiest smile he could muster.

"No thanks, I'm better off in their company," I replied, indicating my companions. Newton looked shocked for a moment but he quickly shrugged it off and walked away. In the back of my mind I knew he wasn't going to give up.

"You know you just threw away your opportunity at popularity right?" Martha blurted out suddenly.

"And your point would be?" I asked, raising my eyebrow.

"No girl that I know of has ever said '_no'_ to the most popular guy in school- also known as Mike Newton."

"Well then it's a good thing that I'm not a girl, but a woman." I smirked at her and turned to look at Angela. As soon as our eyes meet, both of us broke out in a fit of laughter; I heard Martha and Ben join us only a few seconds after.

I couldn't stop myself from thinking that I was actually enjoying the company of these three humans. How strange.

* * *

**Published: June 6, 2009**

**Edited: June 22, 2009**

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**AN: So I'll let you review on your whim, I won't bribe you this time. XD**

**Remember to go to my profile and vote for your favorite story! Vile Beauty is in the lead by _2_ votes! **

**The story with the most votes will become my_ #1 priority! Voting Ends June 30th!_**


	5. Two Boys

**AN: Okay guys here's chapter five. I'd like to thank the few people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list.**

**And I'd also like to Thank my Beta, David for his help... God knows I give the poor man tons of work to do. XD **

**I'm sorry to mention that I have put all my stories (**Except for this one**) on temporary hold- I will work on them later when I have time... Anyway enjoy the chapter. :)**

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0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 5: Two Boys**

0~O~0

"Okay Marie, this is our next class… Biology II with Mr. Banner Anderson." Angela paused and looked at me when I stayed silent. "Are you okay?" she asked.

"Yeah… Just distracted," I said, and motioned for her to enter first. We sat at a lab table in the middle right, which wasn't far from the door. The bell rang just as I sat down.

I took at quick look around and noticed that the pathetic vampire was sitting in the classroom. I smiled inwardly.

I opened my backpack, took out my sketch book and a pencil. I turned to the page of a drawing I had been working on last night.

I began to work on the details, enhancing and blending in various aspects of the drawing.

I felt like someone was watching me and looked up to find Angela looking at my drawing, her mouth slightly open with shock.

"You're going to catch flies like that Angie." I smirked at her and she quickly closed her mouth.

"It's incredible… Is that… a … um… vampire or something?" she asked, struggling for words. It was somewhat entertaining to look at.

"No, Angela, it's my boyfriend," I replied my voice heavy with sarcasm. "Of course it's a vampire. Isn't it obvious?" I saw vamp boy stiffen slightly… He is _so_ listening.

"Well, yes and no," Angela paused, at a loss for words I suppose. That or she was thinking of what to say. "It's just that he looks so _normal_- except for the pale skin and extremely handsome features."

I smiled. "That's the whole point, Angela... He's in disguise, pretending to be something he's not. When in reality nothing he does will change his nature- the nature of a monster."

"I guess I never thought of it like that."

I smirked at her innocence. "No one would, Angela. That's what makes it so _perfect_." I laughed darkly.

"I think I just saw your dark side."

I laughed again, this time a little more carefree. "You haven't seen anything yet."

She raised one of her delicate eyebrows. "Do I want to know?" she asked slowly.

"No," I said regretfully as the teacher finally walked into the classroom. I turned my attention back to the front, but not before sneaking a peek at outcast vamp. He definitely looked uncomfortable and frustrated.

"Welcome class. I'm Banner Anderson, I will be teaching you Biology II, unless you didn't figure it out earlier-"

"I thought this was Calculus," a blonde boy form the other side of the room called out. Most of the class started laughing; I looked at Angela and we both rolled our eyes.

"I guess we know who the class clown is," Angela muttered to me as Mr. Anderson shot a glare at the boy. I looked at the kid who was looking at everyone with a smile on his face. He paused when he got to me. I saw him look me up and down and then give me a flirtatious smile. I saw vamp boy flinch slightly and knew that he couldn't be thinking of anything good. I rolled my eyes at the boy, and looked at the teacher and uttered "Pig" under my breath.

Angela giggled silently. I playfully glared at her and shoved her slightly, which only made her giggle a bit more. I couldn't help myself from giggling silently with her.

"Would you ladies be kind enough to share what is so entertaining with the rest of the class," Mr. Anderson asked, walking to our desk. Angela was immediately silent with a trace of fear in her brown eyes.

I looked up at him innocently.

"Well Mr. Anderson… You see I was telling Angela that it is extremely rude for anyone to cause a commotion in a classroom while the teacher is talking, just to try and flirt with someone like Mr. Clown over there did earlier. And then Angela and I proceeded to laugh at his stupidity," I finished smiling brightly at him.

He shook his head and then walked back to the front of the classroom uttering "_Incredibly innocent little girl, eyes of a manipulative child_," under his breath.

Angela turned to me and mouthed "Thank you" with a grateful look on her face. I smiled at her and nodded my head once.

Compared to the beginning of class the rest of the period turned out to be uneventful; therefore Angela and I spent the rest of the period talking about the summer and our friends.

As the bell rang several students got up and began to make their way to the door, but we stayed seated.

"Wait!" Mr. Anderson called. " I forgot to mention that tomorrow I will be assigning seats. Now you may leave." As he finished both Angela and I stood up and walked out of the class.

"Bye Marie."

"Goodbye Angela- see you after school." I waved at her as we each went our separate ways.

I had my elective last period and since none of the other ones seemed interesting enough, I decided to take Art instead.

I entered the class and sat on the table closest to the door- just in case I had to make a run for it when I was avoiding someone. I pulled out my sketch book and pencil out and began to draw as the rest of the class piled in.

"Cool drawing," a smooth voice called from in front of me. It defiantly belonged to a vampire.

I looked up and found the big, muscled vampire named Emmett looking at my drawing of four people. All of them didn't have faces yet, but you could tell the two were male and two were female.

"Thank you."

"You're welcome. I'm Emmett Cullen by the way." He offered me his hand.

"Isabel Marie Swan," I said, shaking it. He pulled out a chair next to me and sat down.

"I hope you don't mind, I would like to ask you a question."

"Go ahead."

"What exactly are you drawing?"

"I'm not sure, I see things in my head and I draw. Just like everybody else," I lied smoothly. In reality, I tended to draw memories. I smiled slightly and went back to work.

I could feel him watching every mark of my pencil intently, although I never gave him a clear shot of what I was drawing- only glimpses.

In forty minutes I finished the last details of the last male face.

"Can I see that?" I heard him murmur. I pushed the book towards him and watched his face carefully, waiting as he stared at each of the figures. I saw his eyes widen slightly when he saw the face of the last person. "That is wicked."

"Thanks. I try."

"Can I take a picture of this?" he asked, looking at me.

I thought about it for a moment. "Sure, though I don't see why," I shrugged. He took out a red digital camera form his backpack and I quirked my eyebrow at him.

"Red is my girlfriend's favorite color."

I couldn't help the snicker that left my lips.

"What are you doing Mr. Cullen?" the teacher asked.

"Taking a picture of this drawing," Emmett answered, pointing at the sketch book.

The Art teacher, Ms. Roth, walked over with an untrusting look in her grey eyes. She took the sketchbook from the desk and looked at the drawing.

I saw her eyes enlarge and that brought me some mild satisfaction.

"W-who… Who drew this?" she asked slowly. Humans were so predictable these days.

"She did," he replied, pointing at me.

Ms. Roth regained her composure. "May I?" she asked.

"Sure," I said with a shrug of my shoulders. I could feel several pairs of eyes looking at our party of three, so I looked at all the people who were watching and raised my eyebrow, challenging them. They all quickly looked away.

"These are incredible pieces of artwork Miss-"

"Swan," I replied before she could ask.

"I can't wait to see what else you create Miss Swan."

I inclined my head. "Thank you, Ms. Roth." She gave me back my book and walked off.

Emmett began to snicker as soon as she was out of hearing range. I glared at him and threw a paper ball at his head, but that only made things worse. I rolled my eyes and put away my things.

"How'd you learn to draw like that?" he asked after he stopped snickering.

"My parents decided to teach me from an early age. I didn't mind because I loved it."

"And your parents?"

"They were murdered when I was younger. They never caught the monster that did it."

"I'm sorry, I d-"

I cut him off. "Don't worry about it Emmett. It's in the past where it belongs."

He simply nodded as a response. I hoped that he understood that I didn't want to talk about it. "So… What are your favorite styles of art?"

"They would have to be Realism, Dark, and Mythological. What are yours?" I responded, and we spent the remainder of the period discussing art and asking questions.

* * *

**Published: June 23, 2009**

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**AN: I do realize that I spelled Bella's name Isabel instead of Isabella, but I did that for plot advancing purposes. I have also changed it in past chapters when she is at school.**

**Please Review, and don't forget to vote for your favorite story on my poll- if you haven't already. Voting Ends June 30th! Remember the story with the most votes will become my _#1 priority_. (_Yes, this means I will take my story off hold and work on it again_.)**


	6. The Girl

**AN: Hi guys here's chapter 6. As you know voting on my poll ended today and Vile Beauty won by a land slide, so my main focus will be on this story. **

**I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. ****And I'd also like to Thank my Beta, David for his help.**

**Anyway... I'll be going on vacation July 8th so this will most likely be my last update for a month. I hope that I can update as soon as I get back. But that won't happen if you people don't review!**

**Now enjoy the chapter! :) ... It's in Edward's point of view. :D**

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0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 6: The Girl**

**_Edward's Point of View_**

0~O~0

"Edward."

I stayed silent.

_Edward, please tell me you're not mad at me_.

I growled silently.

"You are so immature!"

"Not as much as you are Alice."

"I just want you to be happy!"

"Then don't bring the subject up again!"

"But-" Jasper put his hand on Alice's shoulder and gave her a stern look. "Fine," she sighed in momentary defeat.

I looked at Jasper and mouthed "thank you," and he smiled at me in response.

We walked silently through the cafeteria, grabbing our food before we sat down at our table- the same table for the last two years, which was the furthest one from the door.

"Hey dude, have you seen the new girl?" a boy from one of the table closest to us asked his friend.

"Yeah… She's smoking hot too; I think she could give Rosalie Hale a run for her money," the second boy replied. Rosalie scoffed at them.

"Defiantly man, she has all the boys staring at her. I bet she has a few of them in love with her already." The boys laughed. "You know, I have her for gym," the first boy added.

"No way! Lucky bastard!" The other boy punched his arm.

"I can't believe them," Rosalie growled.

"Relax Rose there is no way that girl is more beautiful than you," Emmett tried to soothe her. _Edward, could you look for the new girl so Rose will relax, please? _

I sighed and began to look around the cafeteria; I heard Alice giggle and I turned to look at her with a confused look on my face.

_I have her for fourth period, she's really pretty and Rose isn't going to be happy about that._ I'm sure my face showed my disbelief. _I'll help you look for her_, she thought before she closed her eyes. _Other end of the cafeteria, the table closest to the door_, Alice thought with a mischievous smile.

I rolled my eyes and looked at to the table she mentioned. I felt my eyes widen and I blinked twice to make sure my impeccable eye sight had not decided to fail me.

She had brown hair with a slight reddish tint, soft, smooth-looking ivory skin, rosy cheeks and full, plump lips. Her eye color was a unique golden-brown hazel; her beauty was great enough to rival that of a female vampire.

I heard Alice and Jasper laugh at my expression.

"Hey Edward, you okay man?" _You find her yet?_ Emmett asked. I nodded and turned around.

"Other end of the cafeteria, on the table closest to the door; she's sitting at the edge of the table," I said as I faced him. Emmett nodded and then looked; Rosalie followed his lead.

"Damn," they both said at the same time. Rosalie looked incredulous and angry with a hint of jealousy and Emmett… Well, he simply looked incredulous.

"I told you," Alice said in between her giggles.

"I bet she's shallow and stupid," Rosalie seethed as soon as she recovered from her shock.

"I think we should try to listen to her conversations before we judge," Alice suggested in a curious tone.

"I'm all for it, I have nothing else to do," Emmett put in with a shrug.

"I don't care either way, but like Emmett said, I have nothing else to do," I said, looking at the food on my plate.

"Okay then- it's settled," Alice said, and we all began to concentrate on finding the voices from the other end of the cafeteria.

"I'm sorry," the girl next to her murmured sadly.

"It's alright, it happens out there," the new girl murmured quietly back, her voice slightly laced with pain.

_What were they talking about? _was the thought that ran through all our heads. I decided to read the minds of the kids around her; I couldn't bring myself to see what she was thinking.

_Poor girl, it must be really hard to lose her parents like that and to know that they never caught the person who murdered them. _"It must be really hard to have to start all over," the boy whose thoughts I had just seen put in softly.

"When you've been through what I've been through and lived the live I've lived, getting a chance to start anew seems like a blessing," the girl replied. Her voice held some bitterness in it.

_She speaks like she's been through more than your average teen_.

"Yes Alice, she does," I agreed and went back to listening. I heard Mike Newton approach their table.

"You're Isabel right?" _Wow she _is_ hot_.

"And you would be?" she challenged in a bored tone.

_She is defiantly sexy_, Newton thought. "Mike Newton."

_He just had to come and talk to her didn't he? That is so typical of him_, one of the girls from the table thought- clearly annoyed.

"So Isabel, would you like me to walk you to your next class?" _There is no way she is going to be able to resist me_.

_Could Newton get anymore full of himself_? Jasper cried in his head.

"No thanks, I'm better off in their company," she replied in a cold tone.

_Playing hard to get huh? Well I'll play along- for now_. And with that he walked away.

"You know you just threw away your opportunity at popularity, right?" the girl sitting next to the boy blurted out.

"And your point would be?" Isabel asked.

"No girl that I know of has ever said '_no'_ to the most popular guy in school- also known as Mike Newton."

"Well then it's a good thing that I'm not a girl, but a woman," she replied. A smirk was evident in her voice. After a few seconds the table burst out in laughter. Her laugh reminded me of Alice's but with a lot less soprano.

_Isabel has attitude… I like her_, Alice thought with a smile on her face. I shook my head at her.

As Alice got up from the table the bell rang. We all got up and threw our trash away before going to our next class.

The classroom was mostly empty so I sat down and took out a book to read. It was only a few minutes before the rest of the students walked in.

"Yeah… Just distracted." My head shot up from the book I was reading at the sound of the familiar satin voice.

From the corner of my eye I watched as Isabel and her friend sat down at the table in front of me.

I took a deep breath and a scent more pleasant than flowers or blood assaulted my nose. It was soothing and at the same time mouthwatering, but I felt no need to _eat_ her.

My feeding instinct was absolutely silent.

I shook my head and went back to reading my book, but that was short-lived since I heard the sound of her voice again. "You're going to catch flies like that Angie."

I didn't need to look to know that a smirk was on her face.

"It's incredible… Is that… a … um… vampire or something?" her friend asked- her voice full of awe. I willed myself to relax from my suddenly stiff pose.

"No, Angela, it's my boyfriend," she replied, her voice heavy with sarcasm. "Of course it's a vampire. Isn't it obvious?" I stiffened again and listened intently to their conversation as I viewed the image from Angela's mind:

A man of about twenty was crouched, his teeth inches from a girl's neck. His face was twisted with the pleasure of the promise of blood, but the girls face was filled with undeniable panic. The drawing was so well drawn that it looked like a grayscale picture.

"Well, yes and no," Angela paused. "It's just that he looks so _normal_- except for the pale skin and extremely handsome features."

"That's the whole point, Angela... He's in disguise, pretending to be something he's not. When in reality nothing he does will change his nature- the nature of a monster."

"I guess I never thought of it like that," Angela muttered quietly.

"No one would, Angela. That's what makes it so _perfect_." Her satin voice carried a hint of darkness as she laughed. I felt worried.

Would this human girl become a problem to my family? There was only one way to find out.

I searched for her thoughts and found nothing but silence. I tried several more times, but since I found nothing I decided I would have to talk to Carlisle and the rest of the family about it.

I took out my phone and texted Carlisle. I told him that if he wasn't too busy at the hospital that I needed him to be home before I got there. I had to talk to him about something important.

"Welcome, class. I'm Banner Anderson, I will be teaching you Biology II, unless you didn't figure it out earlier-"

"I thought this was Calculus," a boy named Joe yelled out, and most of the class laughed with him. But Mr. Anderson had a very aggravated look on his face- and a quick look into his thoughts proved me right.

"I guess we know who the class clown is," Angela muttered and I couldn't help but smirk at her annoyance.

_Look at that girl; she is defiantly checking me out_. I flinched when Joe began to think very inappropriate things about _her_.

"Pig," I heard her satin voice murmur quietly. Angela giggled and Isabel shoved her playfully before she began to giggle along with her.

_What are they doing?_

"Would you ladies be kind enough to share what is so entertaining with the rest of the class," Mr. Anderson asked, walking to their desk. His tone made it very clear that he wasn't happy.

"Well Mr. Anderson… You see I was telling Angela that it is extremely rude for anyone to cause a commotion in a classroom while the teacher is talking, just to try and flirt with someone like Mr. Clown over there did earlier. And then Angela and I proceeded to laugh at his stupidity," she said. I could see in his mind that she was smiling brightly at him, a look of innocence in her golden hazel eyes.

Mr. Anderson shook his head and walked back to the board. All the while, he was muttering "Incredibly innocent little girl, eyes of a manipulative child," under his breath.

Had she sincerely just dazzled her way out of trouble? I had never seen a human do that. I had a feeling she could beat Alice at her own game.

This girl had to be special, more than I or anyone else had previously thought.

I wanted time to go by faster so that I could go home and talk to Carlisle, but since that wouldn't happen I decided to watch Isabel and her friend for the rest of the period, in hopes of finding something that could help me read her mind.

But I found _nothing_.

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**Published: June 30, 2009**

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**AN: Please review and tell me what you think! :)**

**P.S. If you go to my website you can find a few pictures and my playlist for this story. :) You can find it where it says 'web : Homepage' on the top left hand corner. **

**~Artemis (Most likely soon to be Medea Ariadne... please don't use any of the names withoust asking me!)**


	7. A Problem?

**AN: Hi guys... so yes I'm back from Europe (I've been back for a while) and I must say it was awesome. I'd like to give a special shout out to all my readers in Germany, Czech Republic (did I spell that right?), Poland, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, and Russia. Your countries are beautiful, I'm serious. :) **

**And don't be offended if I didn't mention your country... I'll try to visit as many as I can when I have the chance... (meaning when I'm older and have more money... if I make it that far. lol.)**

**I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. ****And I'd also like to Thank my Beta, David, for his help. He has a lot of patience with my bad grammar and few updates... XD**

**Anyway, Enjoy the chapter! It's _another_ Edward point of view.**

* * *

0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 7: A Problem?**

_**Edward's Point of View**_

0~O~0

As I made my way to my car at a human pace I saw that Alice and Jasper were already there, waiting for me.

"Hi Edward."

"Hello Alice, Jasper." I acknowledged as I unlocked the car doors and went inside. They followed my lead, climbing into the back seat. "Do you two know where Rosalie and Emmett are?"

"They're probably just finishing up their after school make-out session or something," Alice put in, a disgusted look of her face.

"Why do they always have to do that at the end of the school day?" Jasper said shifting in his seat.

"You okay Jasper?"

He gave me a pained expression. _Oh, like you don't know_, he thought.

"It's like their first decade all over again," I muttered, shuddering at the memory. "You're lucky you weren't there for it." I had to keep a six- to eight-mile distance from those two. "Finally," I mumbled as Emmett and Rosalie walked out of the school. Emmett had his arm around Rosalie's waist, looking very happy.

I didn't want to know.

"Hurry up you two," I said loud enough for them to hear. Rosalie rolled her eyes and Emmett smirked.

He was up to something.

In a matter of seconds Rosalie was in his arms with a very angry look on her face, but before she could say anything Emmett kissed her _again_- starting a new full-fledged make out session.

Alice, Jasper and I groaned in unison and closed our eyes.

"Do you two have to do that at the end of every first day of school?" Jasper groaned unhappily as they opened the doors and sat down.

"Why? Does it bother you?" Emmett asked with an annoying smirk.

"No," Jasper put in dryly, his voice laced with heavy sarcasm.

"Relax Jazz… It's no big deal. You and Alice do the same thing."

Alice glared at the back of Emmett's head and Jasper growled. He had just stepped into dangerous territory.

"Emmett, I think you should leave them alone." I put in calmly, driving down the wet pavement.

"You're a _fun_ _sucker_ Edward, you know that right?" Emmett said slumping in his seat, his head falling forward like a sulking child.

_Ha ha, get it? Fun Sucker! _I heard him scream in his mind.

"I didn't Emmett, but thank you for telling me," I replied, rolling my eyes. Emmett was about to answer back, but I saw Rose throw him a menacing glare that quickly shut him up.

I parked next to Carlisle's Mercedes- which was in front of the garage door.

_What is Carlisle doing here so early?_ Rose thought as we all exited my car and walked inside the house.

"Hello kids, how was school?" Esme asked. She was sitting next to Carlisle.

"Slow, as always," I replied.

"Edward- you said you wanted to speak with me?" Carlisle said patiently.

"Yes, Carlisle… I think we might have a slight problem. Or at least _I_ do," I stated as I sat across from him, the others taking seats everywhere else. Carlisle looked at me expectantly. "I can't read the new girl's mind."

"That's odd."

"And another thing- she might have knowledge about vampires. _Real_ vampires," I added.

"Carlisle, do you think we'll have to move?" Rosalie asked quickly. Everyone else was too shocked to say anything.

"And you might want to take a look at this," Emmett said, taking a piece of paper out of his backpack and handing it to Carlisle.

He looked at it for only a second before he flipped it over. "Jasper, would you care to explain this?" Carlisle asked, showing us the image of four vampires- one of which was clearly Jasper.

Jasper shot up from his seat, went upstairs and came back down holding a small polished wood frame. He took a look at it, sighed and gave it to Carlisle.

"It's a coven of vampires I met after I left Maria; it was early 1919 then. The female standing next to the man's right is Jennifer, the man is Charlie- he is _or_ was the coven leader- and the girl sitting in front of him is his daughter, Bella." Jasper placed his face on his hands. "I saw Bella again in the late 1930's and she was alone. There was no indication that Charlie or Jennifer were with her and that worried me- she'd always been very attached to them. She was out hunting and I quickly noticed that she wasn't the same girl I had met before. She had turned into a heartless vampire… She was no longer my best friend."

"Did you stay with them?" Carlisle asked as we all absorbed this new information.

"I did, but only for about a year."

"Why are we just finding out about this, Jasper?" Rosalie asked venomously.

"Because I didn't want to have to remember what Bella was like then and how she was when I saw her again. It's like watching a member of your family that you thought had a promising future die right in front of you, and you can't help but to feel ashamed and pained by it... Ashamed because you couldn't stop it and pained because you lost them," Jasper whispered, his voice containing an ancient sorrow that not one of us had ever heard before.

We remained silent for a while and then Emmett asked: "How did Isabel come to draw the same exact picture?"

"I don't know. There are only two copies in existence; the one I have and the one they kept. I don't think they would have been that irresponsible with it; it would expose them as much as it would me if they had let a human get their hands on it- or see it for that matter."

"Do you know when they were changed?" Carlisle asked.

"Not exactly- all I know is that Charlie and Bella were changed between 1914 or late 1918, Jennifer was changed by both of them in early 1919."

"They were basically newborns when you met them."

"Yes, that's why I stayed with them. Their self control was extraordinary for ones as young as they were, and by the time that I left I couldn't help but feel a great respect for them."

"Did you keep contact with any of them?"

"Like I said before, the only one I've seen since then is Bella and I haven't even seen her since the 1930's."

Carlisle sighed and I knew that was the end of that particular conversation.

"So… What are we going to do with the girl?" Rosalie asked nonchalantly, although I was sure that I wasn't the only one who could detect the hint of malice in her voice.

"Rosalie Lillian Hale. Don't even think about it," Carlisle warned, his voice firm and authoritative.

"And why not? How do we know she isn't going to become a threat? I don't want the Volturi breathing down our necks!" she all but yelled.

"Because, Rosalie, that's not how we ever deal with problems. We can't just go about killing innocent people because we're unsure about what they do or do not know." His tone made it very clear that he was through discussing it and Rosalie huffed and disappeared up to her room, Emmett close behind her. I knew he was going to try and calm her down so she wouldn't do anything rash that she would inevitably regret later.

I sighed and went up to my room as well; I could already tell that Carlisle was preparing to go back to the hospital.

I turned on the music and let myself get lost in the melody…

* * *

**Published: August 29, 2009**

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**AN: Please Review! If I don't get at_ least_ 6 reviews I will take longer to update. I don't like asking for a certain amount of reviews anymore, but you guys just aren't reviewing like you used to... is it weird to feel abandoned?**

**Oh, and I'd already like to thank those of you who will review, but all my readers are awesome regardless if they review or not.**

**~Medea (Formerly Artemis S. Cullen)**


	8. Alone in Crime

**AN: Hello my dear readers, I'm sorry that it took me this long to update but I've been busy and lazy when I get a chance to rest (I know bad habit, but they die hard so please bear with me) and I have a slight problem... I have a big case of writer's block and it's defiantly not cool.**

**I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. And I'd also like to Thank my Beta, David, for his help. He has a lot of patience with my horrid self. XD**

**By the way, I'm going to try a new way of 'posting' these chapters, but if it doesn't work then I'll keep the 'format' I've used since the beginning.**

**Oh! And before I forget, in this chapter there are 3 profanity words... I think, but I'm sure it's less than 5. So if you aren't comfortable with profanity, I'm sorry. I don't like using it in my stories, but sometimes it's** **necessary (Like in this chapter)**

**Okay this is the end of this particular AN. Enjoy the chapter. :)**

**P.S. A Really Belated Happy Birthday to my good friend Ash (**_BellaMarieCullen'87_**).**

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0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 8: Alone in Crime**

0~O~0

"Bye Emmett, I'll see you tomorrow," I said, seconds before the bell rang. I smiled when I saw the look on his face; he was defiantly wondering how I did that.

I got up from my seat and was the first person out the door. I saw many students rushing out of the classroom, glad that the first day of class was finally over. I even heard several students complain that it wasn't fair for them to have homework on the first day of school.

A path started to part for me as I walked and a few of the students- mostly boys- stared at me with wide eyes. One would have thought that after a few hours after my arrival they would have stopped talking about me, but no- they decided to keep talking about me some more.

I saw a boy that looked like a freshman looking at me and I winked at him, just to see his reaction.

Immediately his heartbeat quickened and his breaths came out in gasps. I smirked; teenage boys were _so_ predictable.

I saw Martha by the water fountain and I waved goodbye as I passed her and walked towards the gate doors.

Why people put gates around a high school was beyond me. I doubted that the children would take the time to break into the school and deface it. I hoped the humans weren't that petty; but, after all, they _were_ human and immature.

Across the parking lot I saw Jasper and his pixie-like mate who were both standing by a silver Volvo. They looked at me curiously but I ignored them. I was about to mess with his power when my cell phone rang.

"Hi Angela!" I said into the phone as carefree as possible.

"Hi Marie." I could practically see Angela playing with her hair nervously.

"What's wrong Angela?" I asked as I stopped right outside of my car.

"Martha and I will be going to Port Angeles on Friday and we were wondering if you'd like to come with us?" _Great_.

"I would love to Angela, but my sister and I will be going out of town to visit some old friends of ours that we haven't seen in a long time," I lied.

"Oh."

"Sorry, see you tomorrow Angie." I heard her laugh softly.

"Alright Marie, bye."

As I went over today's events, I realized that I had spent so much time trying to act human that I hadn't had time to search for the perfect prey. I would have to prioritize that tomorrow.

I sighed and went home. I noticed that Jen wasn't there and headed into my room.

The moment I sat on my bed I realized that I had nothing to do... And drawing didn't sound too appealing so I turned my laptop on and went on YouTube to watch some videos. I quickly found one titled "Hush, Hush_"_ although it was the song and not a music video. The song was slow and calm and for some strange reason, I liked it- so I downloaded it and put it on my iPod to listen to it while I did some decorating.

I picked up a box and opened it. Inside I found several things that I hadn't seen in years. One was an old iron picture frame displaying a 'family portrait.' It showed my father, Jen, me and the poor mentally-unstable human that my father and I had basically adopted years ago.

That photograph brought back so many memories, mostly hurtful ones. The song's lyrics,

'_And it's a little late for conversation,_

_There isn't anything for you to say_'

kept resonating through my head and I felt the picture frame slip through my fingers, but I couldn't make them move. I faintly heard the glass shatter but I was lost in the memory of _him _touching_ her_. I felt the gap in my heart move dangerously, like magma breaking through the surface of the previous layer of cooled lava.

My knees weakened and I collapsed onto the hard wood floor, gasping for unnecessary breath.

I crawled slowly back upstairs climbed onto my bed before I collapsed. I felt like curling into myself but I knew that wouldn't stop the pain. I had lost too many people that I loved for that to actually work.

With shaky hands I opened my back pack and pulled out a pencil and my sketch book. I flipped to a blank page and stared at it for an uncertain amount of time before I controlled my breathing and my hands became steady enough to draw. My mind paid no real attention to what my hand was doing; I simply let myself get lost in the picture.

In what felt like minutes but was more accurately hours I had finished my drawing, but inside I knew that no amount of drawing would ever help me.

I glanced out the window and saw that the sun was beginning to rise, so I got up and made my way to the bathroom. I did things robotically and soon I stepped outside the tub with water droplets covering my body, making it look even paler than it was, which seemed impossible to me until I remembered that I still had the human disguise on.

I donned a simple blue shirt, some dark jeans and matching closed-toe heels. I towel-dried my hair before I ran a brush through it once and left it alone.

I went back into my room and saw that I had ten minutes to get to school so I grabbed my black coat and put the sketch book and pencil back inside my backpack. I lightly applied some make-up and walked out the door.

Jen hadn't come home at all.

0~O~0

The school day began much the same way as the day before, except that several teachers finally decided to hand out their syllabi. After a quick glance I concluded that passing the classes would be simple enough.

I was currently in my seat- the math teacher was droning on and on about what to expect in her class- when it occurred to me that I would need to gather some information on the animal-drinkers if I was to successfully avoid their suspicions while in town.-After going over it a few times I resolved to ask Angela or Martha at lunch, maybe I could even make _them_ 'break into sweat'- or so the saying went.

I couldn't help but smile to myself- lunch was going to be interesting.

0~O~0

"Marie, aren't you going to get lunch?" Angela asked as she sat down in the seat next to mine. I took a quick look at her food and scrunched my face up in disgust.

"I'd rather not; I'll eat when I get home. Besides, I'd rather drink this." I pulled out a silver thermos from my backpack.

"What is that?" Ben asked as he took a seat across from me.

"It's something special my sister and I drink, you guys would find the taste disgusting because you're not used to its bitterness. It tastes worse than strong black coffee, or so I've been told," I explained before I opened the thermos and began to drink.

In reality it was blood that we had around the house from previous hunts that we stored in the refrigerator. Having it around the house was a good way to prevent us from becoming so thirsty that we would lose control and attack a human, in case we hadn't hunted in a while. We only stored blood every six months, which also meant that we had to drink it cold. Of course it didn't taste the same as when it was fresh.

"So, someone tell me which groups I should avoid."

"What?" Ben asked, confusion written all over his face. I sighed.

"First, point to all the '_popular kids'_ tables and then the '_social outcasts.' _Please."

"Oh. Okay then… popular, popular, popular and popular," Ben replied, pointing at some tables near the other side of the cafeteria. "There aren't that many social outcasts in school except for us geeks and the Cullens."

"The Cullens? Why?"

"I'm not really sure; they keep to themselves most of the time."

"Okay- bitch and not a bitch."

"Huh?" Martha asked confused.

"I mean be a bitch to the people at the popular table, but not to the geeks and other social outcasts."

"That's practically social suicide."

"Yeah, I know." I smiled brightly at Martha.

"Why would you do that? You actually have a great shot at being popular," Ben asked, clearly not seeing the reason.

"It's quite simple Ben. You see, the popular kids tend to be a bunch of arses that think they deserve everything in the world when they practically have no brain. Plus, the geeks and social outcasts will one day rule the world." I kept my voice as nonchalant as I could.

"She's got a point," Angela put in with a smile.

"Someone else has seen the light! You are officially my first Forks convert," I exclaimed dramatically. I wasn't acting very maturely but I_ am_ pretending to be a _teenager_.

"Okay then, you two are officially the strange ones," Martha said before drinking some juice.

"Anyway, someone tell me about the Cullens, our social outcast buddies," I paused and looked inside the thermos,."I think my sister spiked my drink." _Wait, was that even possible_? I heard Angela, Ben and Martha laugh as what I said settled in. "You guys I'm not joking, I swear I think she did, that would also explain why she wasn't home all day." They laughed even harder after I said that and I waited for them to get over their laughing fit and answer my question.

"I'm sorry Marie, but that's just too funny." Angela paused to take a breath. "Anyway there's not much to tell. They moved to Forks two years ago, they're all adopted by Dr. and Mrs. Cullen, and they're dating each other. Rosalie is with Emmett, Alice is with Jasper and Edward is by himself. Also Jasper and Rosalie's last name is Hale, not Cullen. They're twins."

"Their names sound like something for an early century book- except for Jasper's. His sounds like something out of the Pre-Civil War Era." Angela gave me a questioning look and I sighed.

"How do you know that?" Ben asked.

"I study history and English literature," I lied to them. After all, I had lived during the early 1900's, Jasper himself had told me he was born before the Civil War and I had met several Edward's during and after my human lifetime.

I glanced at the Cullens who all looked a bit too stiff and still, especially Jasper.

"That's cool," Angela said and I looked at her and smiled.

"You're the first person outside my family to think so."

"Really? That's hard to believe. A person can gain so much knowledge from the past."

"Spoken like a true historian Ang."

"Thanks," she replied, blushing. I couldn't help but laugh.

"I think history is a bit boring- no offense Marie."

"None taken, and I understand your point Martha. But the people with knowledge hold power and I like power." I winked at Ben who was watching and I saw him shake his head. "You don't agree Ben?"

"Hey, don't drag me into this."

"Fine," I replied, rolling my eyes. I stood up from the table just as the bell rang and took a few steps away; the others were still in their seats. I stopped, turned around and placed my hands on my hips. "Aren't you guys coming?" I asked and raised my eyebrow at them.

They laughed and followed my lead before throwing the trash away and going towards their own classes, except for Angela.

"Who do you think will be your lab partner Marie?"

"I don't know I just hope it's not someone who is lazy or stupid. For example, _you_ would make a good lab partner." I smiled at her as we sat down in the same desk we had the day before, and we waited for Mr. Anderson to appear and for the bell to ring.

Mr. Anderson finally walked into the class several minutes after the bell rang, carrying a folder in hand.

"Good afternoon class. As I told you yesterday, I will be assigning seats and lab partners today, so be quiet and pay attention. Isabel Swan," he said, pointing to the seat at the very back of the class, furthest from the aisle. " And Edward Cullen," he added, pointing to the seat next to mine. I heard several boys groan and I turned to look at Angela who was looking at me and mouthed '_What a reaction._' She struggled to keep herself from laughing out loud as I moved to take my assigned seat.

I turned to Edward, who had joined me at our table, tapped his shoulder and stretched out my hand.

"Hi. I'm Isabel Marie Swan, but please just call me Marie." I smiled slightly at him as he shook my hand.

"Pleasure, I'm Edward Cullen."

"_Piacere di conoscerla_," I replied with a nod of my head before I turned toward the front and watched Angela sit down next to a light brown haired boy in the seat directly in front of mine.

Things in Biology were bound to get interesting soon, especially with the animal-drinker being my lab partner.

* * *

**Published: Thursday October 22, 2009**

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**AN: Some of you may have noticed (and other's not) that this chapter was a bit longer than a few of my recent ones, I tried to make it longer still but I couldn't, my brain died on me. To those of you who wanted longer chapters, I'm sorry about that, I'll keep working on it. Promise.**

**And I'm sorry if I messed up on that 1 line in Italian at the end of the chapter; I'm still learning the language and David wasn't too sure about it either.**

**So, I have a new poll on my profile. The question is if you would like for me to post/upload sneak peeks of future chapters on my DeviantArt Page and Web Site every couple of Friday's. So go ahead and vote if you want to, the voting will end on **_**November 17th**_**.**

**If you liked this chapter (or even if you didn't) please review.**

**I'd also already like to thank those of you who will review, but all my readers are awesome regardless if they review or not.**

**~Medea (Formerly Artemis S. Cullen)**


	9. Break & Enter

**AN: I know, I know. I took forever in updating, don't shoot me.**

**Anyway I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. And I'd also like to Thank my Beta, David, for his help. He had to correct so much in this chapter that it's not even funny... well, maybe a little. XD**

* * *

0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 9: Break & Enter**

0~O~0

It had been a little over two months since I had moved to Forks. Things at school had settled down a bit. I was cautious about what I said around the animal-drinkers- I had to be in order for them to relax a bit and get comfortable again. I remembered that on the second day of school Emmett had been very careful around me in class, and it had continued all through the week.

The outcast –Edward- has also been that way, constantly watching me in class, but I pretended not to notice. I had also detected a bit of frustration on his part, for some unknown reason, but after some time I was able to understand why- he couldn't read my mind, and it irritated him.

He, along with the rest of his siblings at school save Emmett, remained very cautious around me all of September, before they began to relax mid-October. Now November was coming to an end and things were about to change for them.

For the last few months I had refrained from doing anything other than observing them in their most unguarded of moments. And so I came to learn many things about them that might help me later on.

For example, I knew Jasper was having trouble adjusting to their animal diet. Edward was constantly in a sullen mood- loneliness finally taking its toll on him I suppose. Blondie was the ice queen and Emmett was her faithful and loyal servant- he was an idiot, period. The pixie had a bubbly attitude and was their psychic. The snow-white woman was the motherly figure; she spent most of her time at home when the rest of the coven was away. She would clean the house and decorate it from time to time, but never too much- she was your typical house-wife. And the vampire named Carlisle was the coven leader and the oldest of them all. He was also a doctor who would read books or talk to his wife in his spare time.

I didn't particularly like any of them; they tried too hard to be human and fight their instincts. It was pathetic. We were what we were and they were clearly in denial, trying to change and ignore it.

I jumped off the tree branch and landed in a low crouch before I slowly rose and began to make my way calmly over their yard towards the front door.

They had all left fifteen minutes ago to go hunting and I decided I was going to use that time to explore their residence a bit. There was nothing better than a good old-fashioned breaking and entering to make a day better- for me at least.

When I walked into their house the first thing I noticed were the dark wood floors; the bright, white and cream walls; and the wide open space.

I explored the ground floor finding an empty kitchen, a door that lead to a large garage, a dining room, a spacious living room, a small library and what appeared to be a decent-sized game room.

Exiting the game room I saw a large, elegant black piano next to one of the windows. I walked over to it, letting my hand run over its reflective surface before I reached its cool white keys.

I sat on the bench and pressed a few, playing a song from my human youth with my closest friend. It was a song that we had written together before we were sent to different private schools. I had only made slight alterations to it over the course of the past several decades.

Too soon, the song was over. I sat there, staring at my fingers on the keys, before finally getting up and ascending the stairs, admiring the wrought-iron banisters.

I went from room to room, searching for things and taking them when I found them. They would be necessary for my plan to work as intended.

The last room I entered had pale walls with shelves of CD's and books, and in one of the corners closest to the window wall was an expensive-looking stereo system. The floor was of the same color as the rest of the house and in the center right of the room was a dark gold carpet and black leather couch. I realized that the room had to be that of the outcast vamp.

I walked into the room and noticed two doors on either side of me. I chose the one on the left and discovered a bathroom, so I closed that door and tried the other one.

This one revealed a closet with a small part of the right side being nothing other than a few drawers. The greater part of the left side was nothing other than your typical closet with its clothes hanging in place, but something seemed off to me. The closet seemed too small and when I carefully moved the clothes aside I saw why. There was a small door that when opened revealed a much larger room. It was another closet, but with an array of clothes from years past. The oldest clothes I could find were from the end of the First World War, around the time of my change.

I took down a cardboard box from a shelf directly on top of those clothes and found a few letters, music sheets, news paper clippings, and a felt ring box. I decided to take the last item with me.

I placed everything back in the box carefully and put it back in its place before I left the hidden closet, making sure everything looked undisturbed before shutting the main closet door and leaving the house.

I ran through the forest, my feet not making a sound and leaving no evidence of disturbance as they touched the ground.

I easily jumped over the brick wall that surrounded my back yard, opened the back door and saw that Jennifer was there, storing some blood in the fridge.

"Hello Jen."

"Hi Isabella," she replied, closing the refrigerator door and facing me.

"When did you get back from hunting?" I asked her, sitting down in the nearby chair.

"Just a few minutes ago and as you can tell, I brought some back."

"That's good. We almost ran out and we might have needed some soon."

"I know. So how's your prey been?" she asked me, raising one of her eyebrows.

"Which one?" I asked, laughing quietly.

"Both."

"Well the human is getting comfortable around me and the animal drinkers have relaxed, but that's going to change very soon."

"What do you have there?" she asked suddenly, her eyes looking at the small bag that I had in my lap.

"Oh this?" I asked her picking it up and moving it in a circle, "this is just a bag of souvenirs." I set it down and opened it, tossing the box containing the ring her way. She caught it easily.

"Wow," she said as she opened it, "this looks old and a bit expensive."

"It should be- he's had it since the end of World War One," I replied, catching the box as she threw it back.

"How are you sure about that?"

"I found it above some clothes form that time period."

"Are you sure you're not mistaken?"

"I was alive during the nineteen hundreds Jennifer- there is no way I can be mistaken." I rolled my eyes and got up to go to my upstairs room.

When I got there I opened my window and was just about to move away when my hand brushed over the window frame and my sight went black.

_I opened my eyes to find myself in the middle of my room. _

_I looked towards the window and noticed that it was nighttime- a slight breeze wafted from outside. I turned around and saw my body was in bed, seemingly asleep. The digital clock on my nightstand read November 24th, one fifty-eight A.M._

_My attention was drawn away from the clock to the window by a soft sliding noise._

_I looked over to see someone climb into the room. _

_I quickly realized that it was the vampire named Edward. He just stood there by my window for a moment and glanced around the room before he began to walk towards me._

_I backed up until my back hit the room wall and sighed in relief when I saw him turn towards the bed._

_At that moment I wanted to do nothing but slap myself at my own stupidity. "Of course he can't see you- this is a vision you idiot_."

_With this comforting realization I made my way towards the other side of the bed, taking in his appearance._

_He was wearing dark jeans and a dark blue turtle neck that showed a slight hint of the lean muscles he had underneath. His hair was a mess, like always- you'd think he'd never heard of a brush or hair gel. I chuckled to myself; he probably hadn't._

_I saw his hand move from the corner of my eye and my attention was quickly caught by the book he held in his hand- it was my sketchbook. "Oh Damn," _I thought just as my sight returned to normal_._

I groaned and threw myself back on my bed, throwing my arms over my eyes in the process. _How the hell am I going to stop this from happening_? _Curse you, gift_. I growled to myself before I stood and went to hide the things I had brought with me from their residence.

"What now?" I heard Jen murmur to herself softly down stairs. _That is just _so very _insulting_.

I held back the growl that was beginning to form in my throat and instead jammed the items in the black bag I held in my hand into another black plastic bag before I hid it in a shoe box. Vampires never check the shoe boxes. They're rather cliché as a hiding place.

_I'm really not in a good mood right now_…

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**Published: Friday January 15, 2010**

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**AN: So what do you think? Please review and tell me what you think... I wonder if you guys can give me 10 reviews for this chapter by the end of the week. (_Translation: I want 10 reviews._)**

**Anyway, the poll has closed. ****The question was: _How do YOU think 'Vile Beauty' should end? _Three people voted and all 3 were in favor of Edward and Bella getting together at the end. I wonder if the story will end like that. (Yes, I'm writing the story and _I_ don't even know)**

**So the next chapter is being typed and written and I've gotten a slight case of writers block, I'm sure I'll get over it soon enough, but it might still be a while before I update again so bear with me. **

**And my semester finals are coming up next week, so you can imagine how busy I'm going to be.**

**Until next time,**

**~Medea (Formerly Artemis S. Cullen)**


	10. Forgotten Memories

**AN: Hello! I got 8 out of the 10 reviews I asked for. Not too bad actually.**

**So, I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed, asked questions, and added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. All the reviews made me smile, especially those that had questions. It's too bad that I couldn't go into detail with my answers, that would have ruined the mystery of the story.**

**And I'd also like to thank my Beta, David, for his help with this chapter. **

**Now, enjoy the chapter!**

* * *

0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 10: Forgotten Memories**

**_Edward's Point of View_**

0~O~0

My siblings and I walked down the school hallway towards the art room; Emmett had stayed behind to finish some final details on an art project that was due today.

We all found it humorous that the humans would clear out of the school so fast, seeing how there wasn't much to do in Forks. Yet, the empty hallways sometimes seemed to provide evidence that we could be wrong.

Emmett was just walking out of the art classroom and was about to greet us when a slow, somewhat melancholy melody filled the air. It took us by surprise and even though it lasted only a few seconds, it had our curiosity piqued. We headed for the music room as a new, much more optimistic song began.

Looking through the small glass window on the door, we were shocked to see Marie at the piano, her hands moving gracefully over the keys. Her hair was up in a messy bun with several strands framing her face. Her eyes held a deep intensity that was almost painful to look at.

Suddenly I froze.

_I was playing the same notes on the piano, my hands gliding rapidly over the white keys._

_I was lost in the music and yet I knew the song was coming to an end. I played the last notes and closed my eyes, taking a deep breath._

_"I have not heard that melody in the longest of times," I opened my eyes quickly and turned my head to find my mother looking at me with sadness in her eyes. She sighed and smiled at me. "Come now, Edward- we have to go if we are going to get to the dinner party in time." Soon I found myself in my father's automobile, a few blocks away from the Swan residence, a nervous feeling in the pit of my stomach. I wanted to curse myself for reacting this way every time I neared _her _home. It was not as if she was living there at the moment- the last time I heard anything of her was almost a year ago. _

_My parents had asked hers why she had not come down to spend the holidays with them. They had only replied that she was spending the holidays with one of her friends and said friend's family in New York._

_When the automobile stopped in front of their home, I immediately got out and went to help my mother out as well._

"_Thank you, dear." She smiled at me before talking my father's arm. I followed them silently while they rung the bell._

"_Edward, Elizabeth, it is so good to see you again. Come in, come in," Mr. Swan greeted my parents with a large smile on his face. "Ah, Edward my boy, it has felt like an eternity since I last saw you, you've grown at least another foot that's for sure. You're almost as tall as your father and I." Mr. Swan addressed me shaking my hand and clasping my shoulder with the other._

"_It's good to see you again as well Mr. Swan," I replied with a nod of my head. I saw him frown slightly and I immediately thought my words over to make sure I had not said anything inappropriate._

"_Edward my boy, I have told you a thousand times to call me Charlie, calling me Mr. Swan makes me feel older than I already am."_

_I shook my head slightly. "Forgive me Charlie, I continue to forget."_

"_You have no shame Charlie Swan; you give the young man no peace of mind." I couldn't help but smile at Mrs. Swan as she glared playfully at her husband before coming towards me and embracing me tightly. "My, my, Edward- you have surely grown. It feels like just yesterday you and my dear Bell were running up and down the house." She pulled back and smiled at me with a loving expression before turning to look at her husband._

"_That reminds me," Mr. Swa- I mean Charlie- said before I could respond. "You three will never believe who has come to join us for the upcoming week. Bells!" I felt my heart quicken its pace as he called for her loudly. I heard a joyful, charming laugh as the people near us began to move apart._

'_Edward? You okay?'_

I blinked and saw Jasper looking at me with a curious expression. I nodded.

Suddenly the music stopped.

I looked up to see Marie still holding her hands out over the keys with an agonized expression. She closed her eyes and put her face in her hands, she shook her head slightly before abruptly standing up, grabbing her things and walking rapidly out the other door.

"What's her deal?" Rosalie murmured silently.

"I don't know," Jasper replied. "She was feeling everything and nothing at all. It was like she was numb."

"Hey look- she left something on the floor." Emmett opened the door and walked towards the piano, picking something up. "It's her sketch book," he whispered in amazement.

"What's the big deal, it's not like you've never seen it." Rosalie huffed out.

"I've seen her work on stuff in class, but I've never seen most of the finished results."

"How is that even possible? Don't you sit right next to her in class?" Alice asked confused.

"Yes, but she almost never lets me see the finished work."

"Why?"

"I don't know. It makes me think she's hiding something." You could definitely count on Emmett to propose the most frivolous of things.

"She could just be shy Emmett." Alice suggested tilting her head to the side.

"Isabel Marie Swan, shy? You're kidding me right?" Emmett exclaimed in his usual sarcastic and overly dramatic manner. Alice only rolled her eyes in reply.

"Emmett, behave," I said, already beginning to have enough of this particular conversation.

"Always the party-pooper huh Edward?"

"Oh shut up, Emmett," Rosalie growled out before hitting him upside the head. "Let's just get out of here already." She sighed and led the way to the parking lot. The entire time Emmett kept looking at the sketch book with reverence, and I could see that he was just _itching_ to open the book. I could only sigh at his antics.

"Wait until we get home. I don't want you bouncing a hole through the roof," I muttered as we all got inside the car.

_You're no fun, Eddie_.

I glared at him through the rearview mirror and he threw a smirk my way.

One day I'm going to kill him.

When we neared the garage I began to decrease my speed and the car had not come to a complete stop before Emmett all but ran out of the car and into the house.

"Well, he's certainly excited," Jasper said in confused amazement.

"This is Emmett you're talking about Jasper," Alice sighed, then rolled her eyes.

"I know," he replied, shaking his head sadly before getting out of the car.

When we got inside we saw Emmett sitting on the couch, the sketch book open and resting on his lap. His face looked like that of a child whose mother allowed them to eat candy for breakfast.

I heard Alice sigh and saw Rosalie roll her eyes before Alice grabbed Jasper's hand and dragged him upstairs with her. Rosalie and I followed their lead.

_Oh cool_... Emmett thought.

I sighed as I entered my room. Emmett was such a child.

* * *

**Published: Saturday February 27, 2010.**

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**AN: Who liked Edward's flashback?**

**I know I enjoyed writing it. Although it gave me some trouble in the beginning and it was originally going to be _way_ different. As in _'Edward remembers dancing with _'Bells' _and watching his _'friends' _flirt with her at his birthday dinner and how he gets a little jealous about it'_, but no want wants to read that right? :P**

**So, I'd like to get 10 reviews for this chapter. I think you all can do it.**

**And I already have half of chapter 11 done. I just have to decide how to end it and stuff.**

**Until next time,**

**~Medea (Formerly Artemis S. Cullen)**


	11. Representations

**AN: First off, I'm sorry I've taken this long to update! I was busy with school, tests, a new short story that is in fact a fanfic, and I've also been working on an original piece that I'm really excited about. Anyway, this chapter has actually been complete for approximately a month, but I could not put it up because it was not edited. **

**Two, it still has not been revised by my Beta, nor will it ever be. Things happen and my beta (David) will no longer be able to help me with this story, but I'd like to thank him once again for all his hard work, he truly brought out the best of this story. **

**Third, I have decided to no longer have a Beta for this story and it will remain that way. I will do all the editing so if you see a mistake, feel free to correct me. I will not be offended, in fact I'll actually be grateful. **

**And now I leave you to read this chapter; it was actually very hard to write, but I hope you will like it all the same. Enjoy! :)**

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 11: Representations**

_**Edward's Point of View**_

0~O~0

Emmett sat on the couch, a very serious expression on his normally jovial face; he looked to be contemplating something but every time I tried to see what it was, he would think of something else.

"Hey Jasper, look at this." He said getting up and walking over to Jasper who was sitting on the armchair reading a book.

Jasper looked at Emmett skeptically, but placed a bookmark in his book before closing it and taking the sketch book Emmett offered him. As he looked down he grew very still and his mind seemed to stop completely for a few seconds before starting even faster than before. He took in every detail of the picture and I could see it as clearly as if it had been placed in front of me.

It showed his vampire friend, Bella, watching a tiny girl in a straight jacket, Bella's face was mostly emotionless, but her eyes showed a deep tenderness. The room was dark and empty except for the cot in which the girl was curled up, her face and eyes empty of any emotion.

Jasper quickly flipped through several of the pages and I could only see a few of them.

One showed Bella holding a girl in her arms in the middle of a small meadow, her eyes glazed over in a 'seeing past the distance' look; one I had seen on Alice's face many times when she had one of her visions.

Another showed a middle aged man fighting off, what appeared to be, two men and a woman; the odds were not in his favor in the slightest.

Several pages after that showed Bella in a kitchen, cooking something while talking to the extraordinarily beautiful, smiling child that sat beside her on the counter. He was looking at her with pure adoration and admiration.

Another showed Bella in a small room, looking outside at the woods that lay beyond with longing in her eyes and a piece of paper on her lap.

One after that showed Bella watching something through the crack of an open door. Her eyes held nothing but astonishment, pain and utter betrayal.

The one that immediately followed after showed her throwing a ring into a fire that held remnants of body parts. Her expression was that of satisfaction with only a hint of pain in her now cold, empty eyes.

Everything else after that was very dark and violent, it showed page after page after page of humans dying at her hands. Some for their blood and other's for no apparent reason.

_Oh god what happened?_ Jasper thought weakly as he looked at the drawings.

After a moment he set the sketch book aside and left the house in the direction of the forest. Emmett looked at Jasper's retreating form and his shoulders dropped slightly with his sigh.

_I didn't think he'd react so strongly, I just wanted to see what he thought._ Emmett thought guiltily to himself.

I looked at him silently for a while trying to find the words that were necessary for him to hear.

"Don't dwell too long on it Emmett. I believe he needed to see those drawings to help him cope with his past. Although it will be painful for him at first, but I believe that in time he will heal." I told him truthfully hoping that it would ease his guilt.

"It doesn't feel that way now." He muttered glumly from where he now sat again on the couch.

"Give him time Emmett, it will help him better understand why she changed so much. And I think it might bring him some comfort to know that she didn't change willingly."

"Somehow, that kind of makes sense." He replied after he thought my words over. "When did you get so wise Edward?"

"I'm a mind reader remember?" I said with a smile, "but I'll admit it; it all sounded better and made more sense in my head." He looked at me with a serious expression before he bent over from the force of the booming laughter that escaped him; I chuckled at his enthusiasm and began laughing harder when I saw that the windows were shaking with the vibrations of his laughter.

"Good one Edward," he said after he'd calmed down a bit. "And here I thought you had no sense of humor." He finished with a chuckle and a wink in my direction before he stood and went to the game room. _You know, you sometimes sound so much like Carlisle that it's creepy._

I rolled my eyes and looked around the room, looking at the white walls and at the expensive furniture. My eyes finally settled on the coffee table before me and on the sketch book at lay open on it.

I looked at it for an immeasurable amount of time before I finally had the courage to take it and change it to the first page.

I had prepared myself for the worst; a dark, violent or even gruesome picture but what I actually saw surprised me.

The picture did not portray someone's untimely demise, but it instead showed two young children of approximately four years of age playing with a small ball while they sat on the floor of a large living room, being watched by four attentive and joyful adults. They were wearing fine clothes that were perhaps common during the early nineteen hundreds.

The next picture showed the two children, now much older, sitting at a table of two- playing chess. A look of contemplation and pure determination on both their faces. The same four adults looked amused and seemed to be laughing amongst themselves at the children's expense.

One of the drawings that followed showed the young boy bent over a table near a dark piano, furiously writing something down on paper; while the young girl sat on the bench of the piano, holding her hands steadily over the ivory keys.

The next showed the boy sitting on the piano bench, pressing down on a several keys; while the girl played something on a dark violin; they looked slightly nervous and their stance was somewhat awkward- unnatural.

The following drawing was the same except that the four adults were now present, watching the two children with enraptured eyes. The two now looked confident, like they had done the same thing hundreds of times.

From the following pictures only three really caught my eye: they showed the girl packing, tears streaming down her face; another showed her looking out a window of a classroom with sadness, while the girls around her were laughing and enjoying their time; and the next showed a young woman, walking down the street with her arm linked to a young man who had another young woman holding his arm. He seemed to focus his sole attention on the first young woman, who looked similar to the little girl from before. They were dressed in thick winter coats, walking over the frozen sidewalk, laughing and enjoying their time.

"The girl seems familiar." I almost jumped when I heard Carlisle's voice next to me.

"How so?" I asked as he sat down next to me.

"I think she worked at the hospital where I found you."

"Do you know her name?"

"No, I don't think I ever heard it and if I did I must have forgotten it, but if I remember correctly she was the mayors' daughter. Her family, and of course society, frowned upon the fact she worked at the hospital. I think the main reason her father didn't approve of it was because he was afraid of her falling ill and losing her to the sickness, he didn't really seem too concerned about her social reputation."

"Did you know him?"

"Not very well. I had a chance to meet him when he attended one of the hospital charities and when he visited one of ex-colleges' at the hospital."

"Ex-college?"

"Yes, he was the Chief of Police in Chicago before he ran for Mayor in nineteen fifteen and won the office."

"Oh."

"I remember watching how she treated the patients, most nurses didn't treat them like that, and she was only a volunteer."

"Was it that bad?"

"On the contrary," he chuckled, "she was very kind and patient with them." I changed the page as he said this and realized that the place was familiar to me.

It showed a crowd of people having a good time at some sort of party, some of them had clear faces others looked blurry. The Mayor's daughter was holding her hand out, inclining her head with a gracious smile as a young man placed a kiss on it, a delicate ring on her finger. Another young man stood behind her, a somewhat possessive and jealous look in his eyes.

"May I?" I nodded as I passed him the sketchbook, watching his extremely calm face intently because he'd hidden his thoughts from me.

"What is it Carlisle?"

"Well," he sighed and paused as if he were deciding something, "I'm fairly certain that these two people here are your parents," he said pointing to two people I hadn't noticed before, "and that this is you," he said pointing to the young man kissing the girl's hand.

"How can that be?"

"Human memories fade Edward, you know that."

"Yes I know that, but this seems very familiar." He looked at me quizzically so I explained. "You see, after school we were waiting for Emmett to finish working on a project when we heard someone playing a melody on a piano. It was Marie, and when the melody changed I had a sort of flashback to my human life and it resembled this."

"Well that is certainly peculiar."

"I know," I said with a sigh as he turned the page. It showed my father in a hospital, his face laced with beads of sweat. My mother held his hand, while I held on to her free one. The Mayor's daughter stood mournfully in the background, almost blending in with the shadows and looking like she had just materialized from them.

The drawing after that showed us at a funeral. My mother was being embraced tightly by the mayor's daughter, as a middle aged woman held her hand; she looked so lost and broken that it made me yearn to comfort her. The human me stood a few feet away with a middle aged man, he was clasping my shoulder, trying to comfort me I suppose. I looked pale, my face was emotionless, and my eyes were hollow with a glazed quality to them.

The next drawing showed me in a hospital bed, my mother stood beside me dressed in patient clothes, her skin looked clammy. The Mayor's daughter stood beside her, pulling her from my bedside towards the hospital bed beside my own. I could clearly see that she was wearing something similar to a nurses' uniform; her expression showing deep disapproval and concern.

Another showed her standing next to me, putting a cloth to my forehead. She was biting her lip, tears forming in her eyes, her childlike human face laced with worry.

I sighed in frustration. Why couldn't I remember this girl clearly? Why couldn't I remember if she played a bigger part in my human life? Has she been a true friend or foe?

Questions floated in my mind, and I grew annoyed as the more I thought about it, the more questions appeared.

Carlisle looked at my face and I could see the understanding in his eyes. _Don't fret Edward; some things are better left a mystery_. As I thought about it, I realized he was right, the explanations that I would get -if there was a way that I could- might not be what I was expecting, and might not be to my liking.

Carlisle turned the page again and I looked at one more drawing before my question of _'what became of her?'_ was answered.

The girl held her head high as a rather plain male vampire made his way towards her; a female body lay at her feet and a male body lay behind the vampire. I knew the Mayor's daughter would soon meet the same end they had and I could almost see the excitement of the vampire in his eyes at the prospect of feeding on a courageous human. I was disgusted with how well I could imagine what thoughts had crossed his mind in those moments.

_The poor child_, Carlisle thought sadly looking at the drawing one last time before turning the page as I left the room and went up to my own.

I paced back and forth the length of my bedroom for what seemed like hours, looking at the hard wood floor before I finally made up my mind and looked up; one fifty-two A.M. the stereo read.

_Good, I have time_. I thought to myself as I left the house and ran straight back towards Forks.

I followed her scent throughout town and stopped at the outskirts when her scent became stronger. The house was a decent size and elegant, with flowers and trees lining the front.

I neared the house slowly, looking around before climbing a tree near one of the windows. The window was open so I climbed in quietly and glanced around at the room. I couldn't tell from the way it was decorated if the room belonged to a teenage girl until I saw her.

She was sound asleep, her slow and steady heart beat told me as much, but that wasn't what truly drew my attention. What I had begun to think of as impossible now seemed to be a reality, but why could I only hear her when she was asleep and not awake?

I walked towards her bedside and looked down at her, in that moment I really _heard_ what she did and I froze in surprise.

"Please, leave me alone." She whispered out, clutching the sheets around her.

"_No Marie, someone has to show my story," _a calm soft voice whispered.

"It's not even yours!" She yelled at the voice. It was silent for a moment before a beautiful cold malicious laughter entered her dreams.

"_I see that you've become adept at discovering me Marie,"_ the voice was rich and sultry, like that of a vampire.

"I've had to; you've given me these strange and painful visions for years. Why did you choose me?"

"_We've been over this before girl and it is none of your business, you will continue to do as I say or there will be consequences; like the last time."_ Marie's body trembled slightly in fear.

"Please not my sister; she's all I have left."

"_You'd still have your parents if you had only done as I told you."_

"How could I! You haunt my dreams with those horrible images! I did as you told me in the beginning because they were not frightening at first, but then they changed! I can hardly sleep!" She whispered out fiercely, curling up into the fetal position.

"_Too bad, do as I say or you will suffer."_ The woman laughed coldly again, and her laughter slowly faded in her dreams; Marie whimpered softly, her heart rate picking up and I quickly climbed out the window and onto the tree outside.

She woke up with a gasp, clutching her chest before quickly darting out of the room. I heard a door close softly inside the house and the muffled cries that followed short after. I stared at the empty space where she had sat only moments ago and thought over what I had just heard.

Who was the owner of the voice I had heard in her dreams? And why was she haunting Marie's dreams? What exactly did she want with the poor girl? Had she really had a hand in the death of her parents? I climbed down the tree and ran; I wasn't exactly surprise when I ended up at the meadow. I took in the scent of the flowers as I laid down, thinking more on the matter. In the end I decided that I would not tell my family what had happen, at least not for the moment; they would have too many questions, questions that at the moment I held no desire to answer and could not answer.

For the next several days I went to her home and watched her sleep, but she didn't have a dream again, and so I stopped watching her after two weeks; but I couldn't help but feel sorry for her.

How long has she suffered?

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**Published: June 8th, 2010**

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**AN: So what did you guys think? **

**Oh, and you can see how I imagined Bella's house would look like on my website.**

**And again, my sincere apologies for taking so long. Hopefully I'll be able to publish then next chapter sooner.**

**~Medea :)**

**EDIT: P.S. The last part of the chapter (when Edward goes to Bella's house) Bella is supposed to be dreaming, but in reality she is just acting to throw him off his suspisions of her and to satisfy his curiosity.**** ;)**

**Please Review! ****:D**


	12. Animal of Prey

**AN: ****I'd like to thank all the people who reviewed, and added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. **

******And now I give you, Chapter 12. Enjoy.**

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 12: Animal of Prey**

0~O~0

I could hear his heart besting furiously in his chest as I walked towards him; his eyes dark with desire. It was a reaction that few men had when they saw the predator appear in my eyes, but it only lasted a few seconds before fear and panic settled in.

In his case, imagined it was due to my sudden change to my immortal form. His heart rate began to increase as adrenaline coursed through his veins, his pupils dilated and he turned his head side to side quickly- no doubt searching for a place to run.

I smiled.

He ran to my left and I let him, running after him when he was a yard away and throwing him to the ground. The air rushed out of his lungs as I picked him up and shoved him into the nearest tree- several feet away. He flinched and a low purr escaped my throat.

"Ah-Ah-Ah, where do you think you're going? I don't appreciate it when my food tries to run." I smirked as his breath hitched and purred again when is eyes widened.

"Please," was all he said as he looked at me with horror.

"Your blood smells so sweet and I am a very selfish creature," I ran my nose along his jaw and neck. "Besides, I don't grant my prey wishes," I whispered in his ear softly and bit down into his neck.

The sweet blood poured into my mouth and my prey gasped in pain as my venom began to enter it.

After a couple of minutes I felt the blood grow thinner and I almost groaned when I realized my hunt would soon be over.

I let the limp body fall to the ground with a satisfied sigh and licked my lips to savor the last drop.

I removed a large rock by a tree from the ground and kicked the corpse into the area underneath before I shook some large clumps of dirt from the bottom of the bolder onto it and released the rock. I could hear many of the bones from the corpse break as the rock landed on it.

I toyed with the pin and other valuables I had removed seconds before I disposed of the corpse and replace my human guise as I walked back slowly to my car.

The parking lot was empty and the sun was moving farther west in the sky as I drove away and followed the sun back to Forks.

My thirst for blood had been momentarily satisfied, but the hunt wasn't over yet- there were things that still needed to be done.

~o~

"Isabella, are you sure you want to do this? We could simply vanish."

"I'm sure Jennifer. If we simply disappear their suspicions won't go away- they'll simply grow stronger and they might decide to come after either one of us."

"All right then, I'll make the call in a couple of hours as planned," She relented with a soft sigh and stepped away from the table. "So what else are you going to do?"

"I'm going to make a couple of small deliveries and then we'll set up for the disappearance."

"Don't get caught while you're there."

"Please Jen, that's insulting."

"Only you would think so, only you Isabella." She replied laughing, shaking her head slowly.

"True, but that's not the only reason I'm unique," I told her with a pointed stare.

"I know," she said, all humor gone from her voice.

I was glad that it was gone; it reminded me too much of the time when we were all together before my father was killed. Those days were from our past and that was where I wanted them to stay- and I would make sure they did.

I gave her a slight nod and walked outside. Giving a quick, thorough, glance at my surroundings. When I was satisfied that there was no one nearby, I let myself vanish to the world around me and continued on my way.

I walked slowly, looking at my surroundings and watching with empty amusement how the wild live that always sensed those of my kind continued with their existence, unaware of the invisible predator that passed by.

I smiled when I saw my destination appear in the distance and I began to walk slightly faster, already wanting to set in motion the next part of the game.

I left the woods and quickly entered the large mansion, I went into the desired rooms and placed in each of them the items I held securely in my hand.

I entered the outcast's room at the end, slowly looking over his collection of CD's and books. I hadn't noticed how extensive his collection was the last time I'd been here, but I certainly noticed it now. His taste in music and books wasn't too bad- just predictable. It was somewhat gloomy, dark almost- for someone like him.

It reminded me of my dark period that had begun decades ago.

I shook my head quickly- sensing the approach of memories that I'd rather forget. I turned around and entered his hidden closet. Quickly taking down his oldest box and emptying out its contents before I placed the appropriate paper at the bottom. I put back the things I took out and placed the box back where it belonged, before I left the room and made my way back downstairs.

On the way to the door I began to consider vandalizing their property, but I knew several beings would be disappointed in me later.

I ran back to the house and changed into a pair of old jeans, a grey t-shirt, an old sweater and a pair of tennis shoes.

I walked back downstairs and went to stand next to Jen, looking at her without her knowledge.

"Remember Jen, at sundown start dialing my number every ten minutes and after that, you know what to do."

"Of course Isabella, I won't forget. I have a feeling this is going to be a memorable performance."

"Now that's exactly what I need it to be." I gave her a smug smile she couldn't see and walked out the door.

I walked quickly down the road and once I found the place I wanted to start at, I let part of my scent appear- I made sure that only the tiniest bit of it did, just in case any of the animal drinkers decided to pry- as I was sure they would.

I searched for a place near the edge of the forest that would serve my purpose and when I did, I kicked dirt up, pressed my shoes deeper into the ground and made sure to get myself a bit dirty.

I looked around carefully and hummed with satisfaction. I lay down carefully on the ground and let the warmth and color leave my skin, before I closed my eyes, stopped my breathing and settled down to wait.

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**Published: October 9th, 2010**

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**AN: Review if you want.**

**Anyway writing this chapter was difficult because I couldn't decide how to write it, and yes I do realize that it's short but I didn't want to fill it up with unnecessary details ergo the length. ****Chapter 13 _shouldn't_ take me too long but I can't make any promises, I do have several other things I have to do.**

**Until next time,**

**Med.**


	13. Missing

**AN: I'm not even going to try to apologize because I have the feeling that it would be quite pointless to do so- I'll simply leave you to read the chapter. I do ask however that, after you finish reading the chapter, you take the time to read the Author's Note at the bottom as it will help to determine the course of this story. Thank you.**

**Enjoy the chapter.**

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 13: Missing**

_**Edward's Point of View**_

0~O~0

I moved about the clearing restlessly. I had gone hunting in hopes that I would forget my worries, but as soon as the haze of bloodlust faded from my mind, it had returned with tenfold the strength and caused me to become extremely agitated.

I sat down on the frozen forest floor and let out a deep sigh; closing my eyes I began to search my dim human memories for the one thing that never failed to calm me down.

And there she was, staring at me with her bright green eyes, her auburn hair pulled back neatly; a warm, proud smile playing at her lips.

_"That was brilliant Edward, well done," she pulled me into a tight hug, kissing my forehead before running her fingers through my unruly hair. "Please play it again for me," she said, releasing me and motioning for me to begin playing the piece._

_I smiled and began playing the piano again, once in a while glancing away from the music sheet and keys to look at my mother as she looked at me with shining eyes while the sunlight played with the color of her hair and made her engagement ring shine almost as much as her eyes._

I smiled to myself at the memory; it was one of the few that I still had of my mother, therefore I treasured it greatly.

As I began to stand, I was hit by a sudden wave of nostalgia and I began to go through all my human memories as I walked back home slowly, so as to prolong my chance to view the images peacefully and without interruption or interference.

I walked inside the house quietly, briefly acknowledging Alice and Jasper's quiet greeting as I walked passed them. Jasper was reading a yellow novel and Alice was stretched across the love seat, her feet resting on his lap as she looked on her laptop for a particular antic necklace that she had seen in her mind.

I closed my bedroom door behind me quietly; only debating with myself briefly over the wisdom of visiting old memories. I walked to my closet and pushed aside my clothes and opened the entrance to my larger closet; turning on the lights and going quickly over some of the old things I had not seen in some time.

After several long minutes I reached the end of my collection and carefully removed the box filled with my final human possessions.

I took the objects out slowly, being careful with the delicate objects and I stopped cold when I saw something that should not have been there. I picked up the small piece of paper and unfolded it; in neat script it read, '_Missing something?_'' I looked inside the box and noticed that I, in fact, was missing something- my mother's engagement ring.

I looked around and searched for any other disturbance in the room other than the one that I had caused. I groaned softly when I found none.

"Edward," the bell like voice of my sister called, "what's wrong?" I turned over to look at her as she appeared inside my closet.

"My mother's ring is missing," I replied with a defeated sigh. She remained silent and I acknowledge that as being the only form that allowed her to express her shock.

"How is that possible?"

"I don't know Alice," I sighed once again, "I saw no disturbance when I walked in here, who knows how long it's been gone." I became aware of Jasper joining us and I looked at him blankly as he came to stand behind his wife.

"Is anything else missing?" He asked, looking around.

"Not in here, I already checked."

"Alice, go check your belongings and ask the others too," she nodded and left. Jasper came to sit in front of me and we sat in silence for a short period of time as he looked at me carefully. "What else is bothering you?" I looked at him and shook my head slowly.

"I don't want to talk about it," I saw that he was about to protest so I added, "for now." He nodded silently and helped me put my things away before standing and stretching out a hand to help me up.

"If you change your mind, remember that I'm here."

"I will." I placed the box on the shelf and followed him out.

~o~

"I don't understand how someone could have broken into our home and taken things without us noticing it." I looked at Esme as she spoke, we were all perplexed by what had happened and so far, not one of us had come up with a reasonable explanation, not even Carlisle.

"I don't think any one of us understands," I said glancing at the ceiling.

We had moved into the living room over an hour ago when we discovered that the intruder had not only taken my mother's ring, but that he had also taken the bracelet Carlisle had given Esme on their first anniversary, a ring that had once belonged to Carlisle's grandfather, Emmett and Rosalie's first wedding bands along with Rosalie's engagement ring, a gold medallion that had been in Jasper's family for many generations before it was given to him when he joined the confederate army, and a small crystal encrusted gold locket that Alice had around her neck when she awoke to her immortal life.

The discovery had left us confused not only because there was no evidence of it, besides the obviously missing items and notes, but also because the items that were taken were not as valuable as other items that could be found scattered around the house, the objects had more sentimental value than anything else and that in itself left us more perplexed than anything. _Why_ had _those_ items been taken? Why had he left those notes? How had the intruder known that we treasured those items?

"We've gone nowhere in the last hour, we should just let this be until we find something conclusive." Everyone acknowledged Carlisle's words and began to depart in pairs when Alice gave a sudden gasp from where she sat on the love seat.

_"I've found her!"_

_"She has no pulse and her skin feels cool to the touch."_

_"Her poor sister," a woman said softly to her two male companions as they stood around a body in the woods. "The woman will take it hard," she said with a sigh and moved from where she stood._

I sat up stiffly when I saw who the young woman on the ground was. Her eyes were closed and her skin had acquired a deadly pallor, it was no longer the light ivory color I had grown accustomed to as I sat beside her in our biology class.

I remained frozen in place as Alice began to sob from where she sat across from me, Esme and Carlisle quickly moved to her side as Jasper held her in his arms.

I could not speak nor move; the cold feeling of dread in my chest only permitted me to feel as much.

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**Published: March 6th, 2011**

**Edited: March 8th, 2011**

**

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****AN: First off, I would like to thank you for taking the time to read this Author's Note. I do realize that they are mostly annoying to read but I like to use them as a form of communication between the reader (in other words you) and myself.**

**I am currently facing a dilemma with this story- originally when I first thought of the story and wrote it down, I never intended for it to have a happy ending. Edward, Bella and _'Happily Ever After'_ never appeared in the same sentence at all. My reasons for this were as follows; in real life there is no such thing as a _'Happily Ever After' _and if there is, then it doesn't last forever. I wanted to create a story were that was the case. In this story Bella has many of the qualities that would make her the '_perfect_' character or a _'Mary Sue'_, the only thing preventing her from being such is that she doesn't care about anyone but herself, it's her greatest flaw. Thus she would never fall in love with Edward and there would be no _'Happily Ever After'_. Bella was also intended to be the design for Edward's own downfall. As I've written the story I have found myself doubting if I truly _want_ to go along with my original idea- I've discovered that I'm still very undecided and that has made writing the more recent chapters all the more difficult.**

**Now my problem is this, if I continue with my original idea then I will have absolutely no idea how or when I will end this story. If I go for the _'Happily Ever After' _option then that will greatly simplify things for me and I would only have to change a couple of things on the upcoming chapters I wrote down a long time ago. **

**I recently got inspiration that would help me to write the_ 'HEA' _ending so that only makes that option all the more enticing to me.**

**And this is where you come in.**

**I would really like for you to _please review_ and give me _your _opinion on how you would like for this story to end. This story is on more than 40 readers' Alert List and even more Favorite Stories List, so there really is no excuse for there to be a lack of opinions.**

**I won't create a poll because quite frankly, no one ever really votes on those, so please leave _a review_.**

**Chapter 14 is already complete and I will update within the next two weeks; you have until then to give me your opinion (The lack of updates has not been completely fruitless). ****Chapter 15 is half way done and when I finish it I'm going to need to work on the direction the story will go.**

**Any now I finally leave you to it, please excuse the length of this Author's Note.**

**~Med.**

**P.S. I went through the chapters I have written down and (besides discovering that I will have to completely rewrite chapter 15) I have everything up to chapter 20 written down (I still have to plan and write down chapter 20 though). :)**


	14. Searching

**AN: So here's chapter 14. I want to dedicate this chapter to Sunshine Roses for her kind review, especially because her keyboard was broken. ********I'd also like to thank all the people who added the story to their Favorites & Alert list.**

**Enjoy the chapter, even if it's short.**

* * *

0~O~0

**_Vile Beauty_**

**Chapter 14: Searching**

**_Edward's Point of View_**

0~O~0

I looked out at the muddy ground, letting my mind wander- it was one of the few ways that I could stop myself from fidgeting. Marie's death had left all of us uneasy, especially because we didn't know who had attacked her.

We had found a scent near her body and followed it to one of the roads that lead out of town before it vanished. Jasper was certain that it was the exact same one that we had detected near our home months before, but that in its self raised more questions. Why had the vampire come back? Had she even left town to begin with?

The possibility that she was watching us was rather worrisome, not to mention unnerving. We had been slightly anxious since the idea had presented itself when we had sat down to discuss the situation three weeks ago.

We tried to maintain our daily routine as much as possible; we currently had plans to go play baseball as soon as Carlisle arrived from work.

"Edward, it's time." I looked at Alice from where she stood by the doorway. I nodded and followed her downstairs and outside. We all ran together and within fifteen minutes I began to see the clearing that had served as our baseball field since we first moved to Forks.

We picked teams and got into our positions. The game started out well enough, just like all of our other previous games; and Rosalie, Jasper and I were winning against Carlisle, Alice and Emmett. Something that Emmett was not all too excited about, but we certainly were.

Halfway through the game, Alice suddenly froze in place, her eyes glazing over.

_It was foggy, but I could see three dark figures running through the woods, their faces and bodies were obscured by dark flowing cloaks, they stopped suddenly and the vision turned black._

"We might have some company," I said as Alice tried to estimate a time.

"They'll be here in less than five minutes."

"Who are they?" Carlisle asked, concerned.

"They're members of the guard." Alice replied as we all began to move closer.

"Do you think it will turn into a fight?" Emmett asked, excited at the possibility.

"I hope not," Carlisle replied, trying to come up with plausible reasons as to why the guard was in the area.

"Twenty seconds," Alice whispered as I heard their steps approach.

Three cloaked figures stepped out of the trees and walked towards us with deliberate steps, stopping a few feet from us and removing their hoods. Carlisle's thoughts identified all three; the leader was a powerful small girl named Jane, the male to her left was a tracker named Demetri, and the muscular male that stood to her right was named Felix.

"Hello Carlisle, Aro sends his greetings."

"Hello Jane, please send Aro mine."

"I shall."

"May I ask, what brings you here?"

"We are looking for a female named Isabel-,"

"You won't find her here." Rosalie interjected quickly, not wanting to know any of the details.

"Her scent is all over town, she must be here somewhere."

"My wife just told you that the girl is not here."

"She was not addressing you brute," the one named Felix growled out. Emmett made a move to crouch but before he could he fell down to his knees, groaning in pain. The girl smiled in satisfaction and Emmett's agony suddenly stopped.

"Where is the girl Carlisle?"

"She is not here Jane," he replied firmly.

"Why do you insist on withholding the truth-?"

"He withholds nothing Jane," a satin voice cut in. "The whole town knows that the girl now lays in an urn." A figure cloaked in the darkest gray I had ever seen, much darker than even Jane's, stepped out form amongst the trees. The figure came to a stop at our sides, "Mortals, as you know, are easily fooled- weak minded as they are, but then again some immortals are as well." The female then revealed her face and what I saw rendered me speechless.

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**Chapter Completed: March 21st, 2011**

**Updated: April 1st, 2011**

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**AN: ****I am so sorry I didn't update when I said I would, I tried but there was a problem with the 'my stories' page that took forever to be fixed...**

**I'm really disappointed that only one person reviewed the last chapter, therefore I want to see if we can get to ninety reviews within the week before I update again.**

**And****, to give you all an incentive, ****if you are one of the first three to review, I will write and send you a couple sentences of any 'scene' you want from previous chapters and in any point of view of your choosing of course. If you are an anonymous reviewer then I'll put it up on my blog, which can be found in my homepage.**

**Anyway, the chapter was originally longer but I rewrote the first part again because I wasn't satisfied with it.**

**Until next time,**

**Med. :)**

**P.S. Please vote on the poll on my profile page, thanks.**


	15. Vengeance

**AN: To begin, I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. Second, I'd like to apologize for not updating sooner, I was going to but I couldn't sign in and after that I just kind of forgot about it. ****Finally, I would like to give a shout out to MysticNyx06 for recommending my story on her twitter a very long time ago, I'm so sorry I took this long to thank you.**

**Anyway I give you, Chapter 15.**

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 15: Vengeance**

0~O~0

I removed my hood and withheld my amused smirk at the animal drinkers' expressions. I looked at Jane and in her eyes I saw the human facade reflected back. I let it fall away and noted with satisfaction as my face returned to its original immortal state. My skin was once again paler than the moonlight and my eyes were a bright red, just as they should be.

"Pretending to be human is quite tiresome, I'm glad that it's no longer necessary."

"I don't understand why you would do it in the first place," Jane replied, her eyes showing her lack of understanding, I smirked at her naivety.

"For the games of course," I replied. She smiled back, understanding my point.

"It's not nice to play with your food Bella." Demetri put in with a smirk playing at his lips, I walked up to him so that we were only inches apart.

"And who mistakenly told you that _I_ was _nice_?" His only response was to shrug his shoulders and smile, but I was very aware that he was more than slightly uncomfortable with my close proximity. I smiled and stepped away from him, looking at Jane. "I suppose you have a message for me?"

"It's quite irrelevant now, seeing as you are wearing your cloak," I nodded in understanding. "Although, I do believe that this is yours," she held out a small chocker made up of pearls, delicate gold chains and many fine diamonds. "You left it behind when you left."

"Thank you," I took it from her and slipped it into my pockets.

I glanced at the animal drinkers who finally seemed to have recovered from their shock before I looked back at Jane and the others.

"I have some unfinished business, if you wish to stay near by then you must move out of sight and out of range." I removed my cloak and gave it to Felix, who moved to take it before all three moved back into the forest.

"Doctor Cullen you and your family need to leave."

"Why should we do anything you say?" I ignored Rosalie and looked straight into Carlisle's eyes.

"If your coven members insist on insulting me or other members of the guard then I will not hesitate to eliminate them and all those who stand in my way, do I make myself clear?"

"I understand, although I'm sure Aro will not be please by it."

"He would come to understand, he trusts my judgment. Now, I will only say this one more time; your coven needs to leave, this does not concern any of you at all."

"We shall leave, all that we ask is that you do not bring unwanted attention to the area."

"E un troppo tardi," I replied. He shook his head slightly before he and his family began to head into the trees. Both Jasper and his pixie mate gave one last glance in my direction before they left after the others. She had a glazed quality to her eyes, not like she was having a vision but as if she was remembering something she had long forgotten.

I turned to face the direction I knew they would be arriving, their footsteps already within earshot- for a vampire at least. They came out of the trees with several feet keeping them apart. James was in the lead, clearly confident in whatever he had in mind. I kept my face impassive although I was relieved to see Jen alive.

"Well Bella, it's good to see you again. It's been eighty-nine years, no?" I remained silent, not dignifying him with a direct response, he already knew the answer. I remained completely still and silent as he looked at me slowly with leering eyes. "I created the perfect mate for myself; a beautiful, powerful, ruthless and occasionally sadistic one none the less.

"It's fortunate that you have grown jaded with your previous hunting style. Befriending humans! That was such an erroneous lifestyle you and your father had." He paused, glancing back at Jen then at me. "I grew annoyed when your father decided to change that little human girl in order to keep her from me. The last thing I heard was that she'd joined a coven of animal drinkers that live nearby, I'll have to pay her a visit sometime- don't you think?"

"Don't you dare go near Mary Alice, James, or I swear I'll make you pay for meddling in her life like you did with mine." I hadn't had the chance to finish speaking before he had me up against a tree, yards away, holding me by my neck.

"Well, well, aren't you the protective older sister- it's so endearing, it almost makes me sick."

"It's more like creator James, it was I that made the choice to change her," I mocked. "You have no idea how satisfying it's been these past several decades knowing that _I_ prevented you from having the blood of your singer." I laughed darkly to myself but it caught in my throat as he tightened his hand around my neck.

"Finish her," he growled out and I gave a soundless gasp as I wrenched his hand from my throat, but I was too late. I had not even landed on my feet before Jen's agonized scream pierced the air and her remains where thrown into the quickly build flames.

"No," I did not realize that it was I who had spoken until the red head began laughing.

"You don't need her Bella; you never needed her or your father, only me. We only need each other," he whispered in my ear as he pressed his body closer to mine. My body relaxed and leaned into him, already knowing what to do without my command. I felt him smile against the shell of my ear as he wrapped his arms around me and pulled me closer.

I turned around slowly in his arms, looking straight ahead before looking up at him. His smile deepened and he brought his face closer to my own before crashing his lips to my own. My body responded without a second thought and my hands reached out for his arms, pulling him closer.

He gave a sudden cry as I pulled his arms off and tossed them the easy throw distance into the flames along with the lower part of his leg. The redhead let out a cry of surprise and ran towards him as he fell. I ignore her and turned around, attacking the male that had come with them as he made a move to escape. I tore him to pieces quickly and threw them into the growing fire just before the redhead focused and lunged at me. I sidestepped her attack and remained upright as she landed and stayed down in a crouch. Her lips pulled back, exposing her sharp white teeth as she growled.

"You'll pay for this!" She seethed as she once again tried to get a hold of me. I ducked underneath her arm, grabbing hold of it as I did and placing my right foot on her back before I spun on my left heel. I distinctly heard her arm sever from her torso and she cried out in pain as she stumbled. I threw her right arm into the pile of burning bodies.

She growled once she stood on her feet again.

I pretended to lunge for her right side and she turned slightly that way just as I changed my course and grabbed hold of her left arm, pulling it off before I removed her head and disposed of it all into the now sweet smelling fire.

I walked back to a still incapacitated James, placing my foot on his chest and pushing him into the ground roughly. I tilted my head slightly to the side as he began to speak, "You have become just like me- you'll realize that soon enough." I recoiled slightly at his words and picked him up by the front on his shirt and dragged him roughly towards the fire. He struggled fruitlessly against my hold as I made him kneel before the ashes of my sister. I held him up by the back of his collar and placed my foot on his back, adding slight pressure and watching him flinch away from the flames. I decreased the pressure and released his collar watching as he began to relax, I almost smiled. I pushed him forward suddenly and I watched with cold disinterest as he thrashed in the flames, his pleas falling on deaf ears.

Soon enough he stopped thrashing and I continued to watch as his body turned to ashes. I became aware that the rain had reached the field when the downpour began to extinguish what remained of the flames.

I was about to turn away when I caught sight of a gold glint in the ashes.

I bent down and brushed away the ashes while water dripped down from my arm and finger tips. I pulled the chain from the ashes and stood, catching the crested pendant of the Volturi Guard in my hand.

I choked back my emotions and stopped breathing, in hopes of keeping the torrent of emotions inside. I began to feel myself slip into a place I knew only too well.

I had given the pendant to Jennifer, when we had _last_ parted ways in the early nineteen forties, so that she could show it to any vampire that became hostile. The guard crest would let the vampire know that she was under the protection of the Volturi, thus guarantying her safety.

In the end, it failed its purpose.

I slipped it around my neck and placed my drenched hair over the back of it. I glanced towards the trees as I became aware of the animal drinkers presence. Jasper and Mary Alice were in the lead, with the outcast close behind them. I tore my gaze away and walked into the trees shaking my head, my wet hair clinging to my face. I followed what remained of the guards scents and raised my shield- vanishing from the sight of the world.

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**Published: April 26th, 2011**

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**AN: So for this chapter if you review I will send you a section of this chapter in Edward's point of view; and for those of you who reviewed the last chapter, please let me know what scene and point of view you would like me to write for you.**

**It would be great if you guys could vote on the poll on my profile page.**

**Until next time,**

**Med. : )**


	16. Change

**AN: I'd like to thank the people who reviewed, added the story to their Favorites & Alert list. I apologize for taking this long to update but quite honestly I hit a creative wall and I began to second guess the plotline I had planned. Luckily I was able to find a way to push that decision away by at least 5 chapters.**

**I present Chapter 16.**

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 16: Change**

0~O~0

It has been four months since Jennifer died at the hands of James and his coven. Four months since I had avenged my family's wrongful deaths.

I had hoped long ago that having my vengeance would bring me peace of mind, but I only realized now how naïve I had truly been. I had long thought that such a thing was impossible for someone like me, but I had been wrong about that too.

Recently, I had rejoined the guard as it's commander-and-chief, and even though I now held the highest position second only to the brothers and their wives, I still choose to leave Volterra on the frequent missions that several of the guard members were assigned, as it seemed that several vampires were causing trouble.

I walked into the feeding chambers and stood slightly behind Marcus' throne, a place reserved exclusively for me; it symbolized that I was the brothers' right hand and their immediate subordinate.

They were all waiting for their meal to be brought to them. I could hear their excited voices and steady heart beats in the lobby area as they made their way to us. I had never particularly enjoyed this method of feeding, I liked to hunt for my food not have it served for me, but that required time- time that at the moment I did not have with the frequent missions I was conducting.

"This," Heidi said opening the door and leading the humans in, "is part of the ancient castle that is still in existence today." The crowd of humans excitedly took pictures while we watched on, waiting for the sign.

"Now ladies and gentlemen," Aro continued as he stood from his throne and the doors to the entrance were closed, "I'm afraid that this is the end of your journey." He finished with a pleasant smile as some of them gave him confused looks.

At the slight nod of his head many of the guards moved simultaneously and sunk their teeth into the humans flesh. When they realized what has happening, several of them screamed and tried to get away, but some of the remaining guards stopped them. By the time I had made my way to a man in his mid-thirties, most of the guards were just about finished with their prey.

"It won't hurt... much," I whispered in his ear as I snapped his neck and sunk my teeth into his jugular- the blood was sweet and I quickly finished him, dropping his corpse and rolling him over with my foot.

I made my way back to the thrones and eyed Marcus' throne curiously, I resisted the impulse of seeing how comfortable it was compared to my chair in the throne room, knowing full well that now was not the time to try to humor the brothers; instead I took my rightful place and waited for those remaining to finish.

When everyone had their fill, the brothers sat on their thrones and watched as those responsible for disposing of the corpses commenced their task. I focused my gaze above those performing the routine task, uninterested in the work. The corpses and their belongings were to be destroyed, nothing that could link their disappearance to the Volturi was to remain- it had been this way long before I was created. Within minutes the last of them was removed and the remaining guards were dismissed. It was silent for a moment before Aro spoke.

"Bella, have you decided how long you will remain with us?" He asked, not so subtly. I turned towards him and looked at him blankly, knowing that he was far too clever to misunderstand. "Yes, you having taken your previous post should have been enough, but I would rather hear directly from you that you wish to remain with us."

"I have no plans of going elsewhere- so if it pleases you three, I will remain here until the compulsion to travel becomes unbearable." I allowed for a teasing smile to grace my lips as I finished my reply.

"We would expect nothing less from you." He replied as he and Caius rose gracefully from their thrones and left the chamber, their wives not far behind them. I was not far from the doors myself when he spoke.

"Something about you has changed, child." I stopped, waiting for him to elaborate. "You're bonds are different- one is no more while others are on the brink of being extinguished for eternity." I turned to look at him, eyebrow raised.

"I don't see how that is of any importance."

"Bonds often signify change, and change does not come easy to immortals such as ourselves." He paused, looking at me with significance. "Treed carefully, some changes are permanent, and not always for the best." I nodded in return and paid my respects before leaving the chamber and heading towards the stairwell that lead to the guard living quarters.

I loosened the buttons of my cloak as I walked, my steps echoing in the empty tunnel. I opened the elaborate wooden doors and tossed my cloak on the bed as I made my way to the far side of the room where the bathroom was.

~O~

A couple of hours after I had gotten into the hot tub, there was a knock on my bedroom door. I cocked my head to the side as I recognized the presence under the protection of my shield. "Come in," I called, seconds later I heard the light clinking of heels against the stone floor.

"Hello Bella."

"Heidi. What do you need?" I looked at my nails and frowned slightly.

"I wanted to know if you would like to join me and Chelsea for a night out."

"And where are you planning to go?"

"Not very far, perhaps to a club or somewhere along those lines."

"And what for?"

"Oh you know, the usual." A wicked smile played at her lips and I immediately understood her intentions.

"Alright then, I'll join you." I close my eyes and sank deeper into the water, the clinking of her heels fading with every passing moment.

When the water no longer felt warm against my skin, I rose from the tub and began to get dressed. I put on a black and scarlet dress that reached mid-thigh and had two inch width straps. I altered my appearance so that my hair became a dark red wine and my eyes turned violet. Once I was satisfied with my work, I selected some jewelry and put on some shoes.

I had just finished when there was a knock on my bedroom door.

"Are you ready?" Chelsea's voice filtered through the door. My only response was to join them in the hallway before making our way to the garage.

"That color suits you."

"Thank you Heidi."

"No point in keeping it to myself."

"We're going to have ourselves a great time!" Chelsea gushed in excitement. I withheld any sort of reply and remained quiet as we left the city walls behind.

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**Published: May 1, 2013**

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**AN: I plan to upload subsequent chapters once a month, give or take a week, that way if I get stuck while writing I have time to find ways to get over it.**

**Anyway, feel free to leave a review- even if it's just to scream at me that it's about bloody time I updated the story.**

**Until next time,**

**~Med. :)**


	17. The Original Fall

**AN: I'd like to thank the people who added the story- and me- to their Favorites & Alert list. I meant to upload this chapter last week but I decided to wait at least a week.**

**I present Chapter 17, enjoy.**

* * *

0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 17: The Original Fall**

0~O~0

I collapsed onto my bed and let out a deep sigh. The club had proven to be of minimal interest and had only provided some slight entertainment.

Heidi and Chelsea had begun to flirt with a human the moment we arrived and then they drank his blood shortly before we left. I had simply looked on, not interested in observing their disturbing ways and had gone back inside to observe the humans for a while longer until Heidi came to look for me.

I was pulled from my musing by a knock on my door.

"Who is it?"

"Alec."

"Come in," I replied. Not bothering to sit up on my bed as he came in. From the corner of my eye I saw that he was wearing a dark grey suit that matched his cloak perfectly.

"I hope I am not disturbing you Bella, but the masters request that you join them in the throne room. They have some unexpected guests." I turned my head to look his way.

"Who are they?"

"A coven of animal drinkers."

"I'll be there shortly. You are dismissed." He bowed his head slightly and left the room quietly, closing the doors in his wake.

I made my way towards my closet and took off my cloak from its hook before I slipped into it and pulled the hood up to my head. I ascended several flights of stairs and slipped through the opening that lead to the throne room.

I noticed that several members of the guard were already present, on the second floor of the throne room. That which some might refer to as the 'observing balcony'. I walked past them and descended down the elaborate staircase, knowing that they had not yet sensed me because I was using my shield in its entity. I could feel the flickering 'light' of those I had already taken under the protection of my mental shield.

I sat on my chair and crossed my legs before gently touching Marcus' hand to make him aware of my presence. He turned his gaze to Aro before he himself turned to meet his gaze. Then he smiled at the animal drinkers in that way which was peculiar to him.

"Carlisle, my dear friend, I know that your visit is not entirely social. Therefore I ask you to tell me the true reason of your visit."

"My friend, my family and I wish to speak to one of the members of your guard."

"Who?" Aro asked, feigning ignorance. In my opinion, ignorance did not suit anyone with his cunning.

"Bella."

"My dear friend, I must tell you that you have come all this way for naught."

"Why is that?"

"Bella is not a member of the guard," he began. "She is our good friend and ally. The only _instructions_ she receives from my brothers, our wives and myself are of what missions she has next and even then we are subject to her will." He leaned back on his white marble throne and intertwined his fingers.

"Aro, we are not asking that you order her to do anything-."

"My friend, she will not speak to you or your family any other way."

"Will she not even speak to me?" The one who spoke was a companion of the animal drinkers. I could tell that this was the first time he had spoken because he seemed reluctant to do so.

"Nickolas, you may be her brother, but I doubt she will even speak with you." Many of the animal drinkers became very still at Aro's unnecessarily soft words.

"Any why not?" He persisted stubbornly.

"You have the gall to ask?" I removed my shield along with my disguise and stared at him pointedly.

"Bella-"

"You never did understand the risk I took in keeping you alive."

"What risk? There was never any threat!"

"Mary Alice Cullen née Brandon, by default, was a threat to your life for simply being turned at the inopportune time of your birth. I left her, a newborn vampire, alone without giving her any guidance other than her first vision. That in itself was a punishable crime because I am her creator."

"It never came to that. No one lost their life over this."

"My father did." Nickolas gave me a reproachful look.

"He was my father too."

"He may have fathered you, but you are not his son." I paused. "Had he simply displayed more control when he meet your mother he might perhaps still be alive."

"That has nothing to do with his final moments."

"You're wrong, it has everything to do with his demise; because when it came time for me to choose between whose live I should save, I choose yours- knowing that would be what he would have asked me to do." He stared at me, clearly surprised with what I had just revealed to him, as were the others present. I gave him a bitter smile, "my fall from grace began the moment that I let him die. I can see clearly now that I made the wrong choice."

I silently stood from my chair and began to walk away when I felt a sudden rush of air move past me. I turned to see Demetri push Nickolas down onto the floor and baring his teeth as he held him by his throat. All three male Cullen children made a move to help him, but Felix, Jane and Santiago stood in their way. Alec stood behind me, ready to use his power if the situation –or I- demanded it.

I looked into his enraged eyes and spoke. "That was foolish of you." I turned around and walked up the staircase, when I reached the other members of the guard on the second floor-I snapped my fingers. I heard several of the guards return to their previous positions.

Before I slipped into the opening, I heard Demetri tell Nicholas to never try anything as stupid as attacking me or he was going to kill him himself.

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**Published: June 7, 2013**

* * *

**AN: The title of the chapter "The Original Fall" refers to Bella's original- or rather the origin- of her 'fall from grace'. Having to deliberately choose to save her brother instead of her father made her feel not only an enormous amount of guilt but also anger, disappointment and regret when he left her. When he betrayed her that way he brought her to the brink of insanity, but in the end it was someone else who pushed her off the edge. Since then Bella hasn't been able to- nor wanted to- climb back that abyss.**

**Just out of curiosity; how many are hopping she'll be able to climb back? Why or why not?**

**Until next time,**

**Med.**


	18. Intertwined

**AN: I'd like to thank the people who added the story- and me- to their Favorites & Alert list, and Gaby19 for reviewing the previous chapter.**

**I present Chapter 18, enjoy.**

* * *

0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 18: Intertwined**

_**Edward's Point of View**_

0~O~0

I moved quickly and went outside, not needing to fear exposure as it was dark out. I looked at the cobblestone streets and listened to a few cars still about on faraway roads and to family's putting their children to bed.

I lost track of time quickly and eventually someone began to walk alongside me, glancing at their thoughts, I realized that it was Alice.

"What is it Alice?"

"Aro has requested that the family join him in the throne room." She answered distractedly as she tried looking into the future.

"Alice, you know it's futile."

"I know, it's just that I keep hoping that whoever is interfering with my visions will slip and allow me a glance at the future."

"Carlisle has already told us that the guards are extremely disciplined when it comes to using their powers."

"I remember," she whispered as we made our way slowly back to the castle, the air heavy with a sense of foreboding.

When Alice and I made it into the throne room, I immediately noticed that the rest of the family was already present. The brothers were sitting silently in their thrones, staring at us in contemplating silence. I was just beginning to feel a slight uneasy at the complete silence when I heard her walk down the staircase and saw her move towards her chair out of the corner of my eye.

I resisted the urge to focus my attention on her progress, painfully aware that both Aro and Caius were watching me closely.

"Is it not amazing that the two who once knew everything about each other, and would have once been perfect together, now cannot be in the same room for any period of time before unrest appears?" Aro looked straight at me as he spoke before turning towards her at the end. I resisted the urge to frown, what exactly was he getting at?

"What are you talking about?"

"I am speaking of you, my dear Bella and the young Edward Masen."

"He's been dead for nearly a century Aro, it's perhaps a little late for what you're suggesting. An appropriate idiom would be 'that ship has sailed', don't you think?" She replied, turning her torso to face him as she spoke.

"You two were close as children, I cannot think of any reason why your relationship never amounted to anything more than friendship." I froze. It couldn't be.

"Well the first reason was that's the way he preferred it- judging by his behavior in my presence. Secondly, I was engaged to the man from Rochester, New York."

"Ah, yes, the dashing but disloyal Richard King with the wondering eye?" Aro said quietly, as if just recalling that fact. I didn't believe it for a second because Rosalie stiffened at the reminder of her human life.

"Not just his eyes," she sneered with contempt. Aro laughed softly at her words. "The other ass in my human life."

_The other ass_? Her choice of words was definitely not lost on me.

The brief lull in conversation lasted only for a second.

"I never spoke to you about him, I only ever mentioned Richard. How exactly did you come by this particular information?"

"My dear, he is now known by a different name, but he is alive nonetheless. I merely pieced together the information from his faint memories."

"What?"

"In this existence you've only known him as Edward Cullen." She turned slowly to look at me, scrutinizing my face. Her eyes began to dawn with realization and she burst into unbelieving laughter.

"Oh, how could I not have seen it? He hasn't changed one bloody bit." She said as she calmed down and faced Aro again. "Now that you've had your fun, why don't we move along to the real reason we're assembled here."

"I can assure you my dear, I have no idea as to what you are referring to."

"Aro, I know you well, you would not have gone to such lengths for your mere entertainment."

"You would be correct."

"Well then?" she replied, prompting him to continue.

"I have a proposition for some of our guests." As he opened his mouth and began to speak, Bella gripped the arms of her chair and sat stiffly for several seconds. She had the same 'seeing-beyond' look that Alice usually had when she was having a vision.

"Aro don't," she whispered slowly before looking at him, "you will seal your fate and that of everything you've worked for."

_All the more reason to find more ways to safeguard it. Like little Alice. _I was surprised, why was I now hearing his thoughts?

Outwardly he continued as if he had not heard her warning.

"Alice, would you like to join the Volturi Guard? I believe there is a special place in it for someone with your _abilities_."

Alice gave him a brilliant smile. "I would be honored."

I froze.

_Don't challenge him_. An unfamiliar mental voice spoke to me softly, but firmly. _Don't allow your family to challenge him either, it will end badly for all of you_.

I began to frown.

_Keep your face impassive_! The same voice hissed. _It will peak his curiosity and any hope of saving Alice and Jasper will be lost_.

"How wonderful, what about you Jasper?"

"I will do so gladly." He replied with a bow, I focused on his thoughts and those of Alice. There was something off about them, they didn't think once about our family. Or what their departure would do to it.

"Excellent, glad that it is settled then. Shall we go see to your new accommodations?" With that he stood and began to make his way out of the room with Alice and Jasper in tow. "Oh," he stopped before the door and turned back. "Bella, please escort our guests back to their rooms and anywhere else they may wish to go." _Preferably out of Volterra and Italy altogether_.

"Of course." She replied with a dip of her head. With that, he left the room in a flourish of his black robes.

_Follow me_, she said meting my eyes as she walked by me and began to head in the direction of our rooms.

Ushering my family before me, I followed. I had no other choice.

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**Published: July 7, 2013**

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**AN: So there you have it, Edward and Bella are finally aware of their mutual past- although I'm sure that by this point you all saw that coming, but then again I wasn't exactly making it difficult.**

**Anyway, feel free to share your thoughts.**

**Until next time,**

**Med.**


	19. Transitions

**AN: I'd like to thank the people who added the story to their Favorites & Alert list, and to CiaoKawaiirina for reviewing the previous chapter.**

**I present Chapter 19, enjoy.**

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0~O~0

_**Vile Beauty**_

**Chapter 19: Transitions**

0~O~0

"Well then?" I replied, waiting for him to continue with his plans.

My focus changed slightly as I became aware of a tingling down my spine, I searched the _lights_ of those under my protection to see which of them was using their power. I located the light and froze.

It was Chelsea.

Aro's lips parted and my vision went black.

_I opened my eyes. Before me stood the members of the guard, all of them assembled in formal formation according to rank. The color of their cloaks flowing from darkest to lightest, my other-self stood before them with my back turned towards them, I was face-to-face with the brothers. Mary Alice and Jasper kneeled before them, dressed in identical charcoal cloaks. My breath caught in my throat as both Mary Alice and Jasper began to pledge their loyalty to the brothers_. No, this couldn't happen, _the scene sifted again and I now found myself alone with Chelsea, the brothers and their wives_. "_You crossed the line centuries ago, when you began to kill innocents to consolidate your power and to add to your precious collection of psychic guards, it is high time someone called you out on your crimes and righted the wrongs you have committed_." The rest of my vision was only a collection of brief flashes, but what I saw in them made me to sit in my chair stiffly.

Before my eyesight could refocus, and before I gave it conscious thought, I dropped the shields around several of those around me, including Aro and Chelsea, then I spoke.

"Aro don't," I murmured as I turned to look at him, "you will seal your fate and that of everything you've worked for." He didn't acknowledge my words and continued regardless.

"Alice, would you like to join the Volturi Guard? I believe there is a special place in it for someone with your _abilities_."

I leaned back into my chair and watched numbly as Alice gave him a brilliant smile- as if she had just achieved a lifelong dream. "I would be honored."

I turned my gaze to each of the Cullen Coven's individual faces and as my eyes inevitably came to a rest on Edward's face a plan began to form in my mind. I could read the displeasure deep in his eyes.

I brought my partial shield around them and dropped my own defenses slightly so that he could hear me. _Don't challenge him_. _Don't allow your family to challenge him either, it will end badly for all of you_.

I could see the beginnings of a frown form on his face.

_Keep your face impassive_! I hissed. _It will peak his curiosity and any hope of saving Alice and Jasper will be lost_.

The traces disappeared immediately. _Good, at least he could follow instructions_.

"Excellent, glad that it is settled then. Shall we go see to your new accommodations?" With that Aro stood and began to make his way out of the room with Alice and Jasper in tow. "Oh," he stopped before the door and turned back. "Bella, please escort our guests back to their rooms and anywhere else they may wish to go."

"Of course." I replied with a slight nod, hearing his hidden request. With my assurance, he left the room in a flourish of his black robes.

_Follow me_, I told him when I met his eyes and walked past him, leading him in the direction of their rooms. I could hear them move reluctantly behind me, their steps were cautious as if they half expected that I would lead them into an ambush.

I managed a grim smile.

There was a time I would have done such a thing without a second thought, but now- I wasn't entirely sure.

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**Published: August 2, 2013**

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**AN: I know that this isn't any different from the previous chapter, but I wanted to show Bella's point of view- brief as it is.**

**So, feel free to share your thoughts.**

**Until next time,**

**Med.**


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